Health & Safety
Eddy has significant experience in defending health & safety investigations and prosecutions.
Since 2015, he has acted for household name international companies involved in the highest-profile workplace fatalities and serious non-fatality incidents, at both privileged legal investigation stage and at Crown Court trial and sentencing hearings.
As well as proceedings under section 2 and section 3 HSWA (to include s 33(1)(c)), Eddy also receives conflict instructions to act for individual directors, managers and officers under the section 37 parasitic offence.
Over the years, Eddy has built a reputation for successfully defending duty-holder businesses, including recognition in the Legal 500 for health & safety legal representation specifically.
He recognises that the concerns of the Board will be, in addition to managing court proceedings, looking after the reputation of the business and – to the extent possible – managing any media interest into high-profile workplace injuries and/or fatalities. Eddy has significant experience of this, both in the context of his legal career and from a previous spell working in the railway industry.
Eddy has provided legal representation to duty-holder businesses in a number of sectors over the years, including aerospace, engineering, manufacturing, automotive, aviation, third sector organisations, transport, leisure & tourism and the care sector. He has significant experience in work at height, asbestos, legionella, COSHH, CDM Regulations and contractor management, DSEAR, and safety management systems under the reverse burden more generally. He has specifically advised, in conjunction with industry experts, on risk assessment issues, SOP, supervision and training, auditing processes and Board-level engagement.
With the help and advice of expert witnesses, he has advised on complying with section 40 in the context of trial evidence/strategy.
Complimenting his significant experience in this field, Eddy has other specific skills developed from his criminal advocacy practice experience, and also from his appointment as a Coroner in 2022. He is able to speak to trial issues and trial strategy with great confidence, having conducted a number of Crown Court trials both as advocate alone and as junior to a KC.
His sitting experience as Coroner assists in his strategic approach to advising duty-holder businesses in collateral inquest proceedings, in both managing the approach but also in respect of advising on Prevention of Future Death Report issues.
Eddy understands the nature of workplace fatality and the requirement for immediate legal advice after any incident and prior to the HSE Inspector attending site to utilise his/her section 20 powers.
For those reasons, Eddy is always contactable 24/7.
