A County Council was fined £300,000 with £13.165 costs after a man walking his dog was struck and killed by part of a falling oak tree.  An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the tree, located within the boundary of a council owned walking trail, had defects from which it was foreseeable that it was likely to fall and cause injury. Local authorities are required to manage the risks and hazards posed by the trees within their responsibility remit. HSE brought the prosecution under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.  This section places a duty on employers “to conduct their undertakings in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety”. https://press.hse.gov.uk/2021/12/22/council-prosecuted-after-member-of-the-public-killed-by-falling-tree

An oil company has been fined £500,000 following liquid petroleum gas leak in November 2015. The leak went undetected for around four hours before being discovered by an employee cycling home at the end of his shift. It took a further hour to establish the source of the leak with on-site emergency personnel having to enter the area to reset the valve.  An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the leak occurred because LPG was put through the pipe work at too a high a pressure for the valve, there was no process in place to detect the discrepancy in the flow in the pipe and that the company had failed to take all measures necessary to prevent a major incident. https://press.hse.gov.uk/2021/12/07/oil-company-fined-following-liquid-petroleum-gas-leak

A North Wales quarrying company was fined £300.000 after a blasting operation put workers at risk.  An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that flyrock from the blasting operation, had landed approximately 270m away, punctured the roof of an occupied work shed, and put a hole in the outside pane of the occupied manager’s office skylight window.  HSE found that there were poor stemming practices, the written specification was prepared after the firing of the blast, and an inadequate danger zone was in place.