21 December 2018
Petroleum Distributors (Jersey) Ltd was fined £100,000, plus £5,000 costs, by the Royal Court after pleading guilty to a breach of Article 3 of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.
On 25 May 2017, a fire started within the lubrication store at the company premises, La Collette, as a result of an employee decommissioning a petrol pump using a battery operated reciprocating saw. The employee suffered a minor burn. The potential, however, for far more serious consequences was considered to be much greater due to the proximity of the company premises to a liquefied petroleum gas bulk storage facility and a fuel storage depot.
The subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Inspectorate identified that the activity on the company premises had not been risk assessed and an unsafe system of work had been adopted.
The fine level was notably higher than for other health and safety offences with the Royal Court’s judgement stating that:
‘There was high culpability here because the employer relied exclusively on the employee’s experience, failed to make an assessment, and did so with a background of a poor health and safety record, indeed without any adequate health and safety policy until 2016. This was a very preventable accident, was potentially very serious and the fine should hurt… …The fine of £100,000 was appropriate as underlining the importance of the health and safety obligations of an employer both towards its staff and towards members of the public who might be affected by the way in which the employer’s business is managed’.
gov.je