Health & safety

Overview

The best regulatory set in the country, without a doubt!” – Legal 500 2022

Health and safety barristers at Six Pump Court act for a wide variety of individuals, businesses and other entities served with improvement or other notices, accusations of breach of statutory duty, breach of regulations and/or manslaughter. Members provide strategic advice immediately after an incident has occurred through to defence at trial.

Members also advise upon and conduct prosecutions for the Health and Safety Executive, the Office of Rail and Road, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, local authorities, fire and rescue services and other enforcement bodies. For a list of the seventeen members of Chambers who are on the Regulatory List to prosecute cases for the Health and Safety Executive, the Office of Rail and Road, the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, the Care Quality Commission and the Office for Nuclear Regulation click here.

Chambers has twice been awarded Health and Safety Set of the Year and its Members have won and been nominated for individual awards.

Testimonials

“…taking no chances in their quest for excellence."

― Health & Safety Set of the Year – Chambers UK Bar Awards [2018]

"Six Pump Court is ‘a great set‘ which is ‘always dedicated to clients‘."

"As a set, Six Pump Court is second to none in this area of law. If the barrister of choice is not available then the strength of the team is such that the clerks can always find someone with sufficient skill and experience to deal with the matter in hand.‘"

― Legal 500 [2023]

"The ‘phenomenal set’ at Six Pump Court exudes ‘charm, discretion, and confidence’ whilst representing clients involved in health and safety matters, aiding with food and environmental issues."

― Legal 500 [2022]

“The best regulatory set in the country, without a doubt!”

― Legal 500 [2022]

"Six Pump Court 'has great strength in depth in health and safety cases at all levels'."

― Legal 500 [2021]

“…the set is filled with outstanding barristers from top to bottom.”

― Chambers UK Bar Guide [2021]

“A highly regarded regulatory set with a vast offering across the health and safety and related regulatory law fields."

― Chambers UK Bar Guide [2019]

“At Six Pump Court, ‘there is not a lot that the high-calibre health and safety barristers have not handled'."

“Six Pump Court is ‘the best regulatory chambers in the UK and remains the professionals’ choice’."

― Legal 500 [2017]

Latest news

15th December 2023

Pascal Bates and Mark Davies in Shell offshore safety case

Pascal Bates had led Mark Davies on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive in a case against Shell UK Limited and Ampelmann Operations...

19th May 2023

Directors jailed after five deaths and offenders ordered to pay more than £2 million

Pascal Bates led for the prosecution after a falling wall in a Birmingham scrapyard killed five workers, badly injured a sixth and could have killed another three.

20th April 2023

Stuart Jessop prosecutes in railway health and safety case

Amey Rail Limited (ARL) has been fined £533,000 after pleading guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which followed an investigation and prosecution by industry regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

29th March 2023

Health and safety update – recent legal developments by Amy Taylor

In this Health and Safety Update, Amy Taylor discusses recent health and safety cases,  the most expensive health and safety fines of 2022 and the past and future strategy of the HSE.

23rd December 2022

Waste company convicted of corporate manslaughter after trial prosecuted by Mark Watson KC and Peter Alcock

At Winchester Crown Court on 22 December 2022, after a trial lasting 4 weeks before Garnham J, FDS Waste Services Ltd was convicted of...

24th October 2022

Six Pump Court ranked Band 1 Set and barristers receive 43 rankings

Six Pump Court Chambers is delighted to be ranked as a Band 1 Set with Set rankings in Crime, Consumer Environment, Health & Safety...

30th September 2022

Six Pump Court – Legal 500 2023 rankings

Six Pump Court has been recommended in 8 areas of law in the Legal 500 2023 with 59 individual recommendations. Six Pump Court is...

26th November 2021

Discounts of 25% on books by Six Pump Court authors

Today (Friday), Law Brief will be running a Black Friday discount of 25% for all books available on their website.

29th September 2021

Six Pump Court barristers recommended in nine areas of law in the Legal 500 2022

Six Pump Court has been recommended in 9 areas of law in the Legal 500 2022 with 62 individual recommendations.

8th September 2021

Six Pump Court nominated as Health & Safety Set of the Year

Six Pump Court Chambers has been shortlisted as Health & Safety Law Set of the Year in the forthcoming Chambers Bar Awards 2021.

1st August 2021

£6.5 million fine for logistics company after tragic death of an 11 year old boy

What is believed to be the largest health and safety fine in two decades was imposed on W H Malcolm Ltd last week for their failings at their facility in Northamptonshire, in a case which has serious implications both for the rail industry and others.

2nd November 2020

Six Pump Court ranked Band 1 Set and barristers receive 47 rankings across twelve practice areas in 2021 Chambers UK Bar Guide

Six Pump Court Chambers is delighted to be ranked as a Band 1 Set with Set rankings in Crime, Consumer Law Environment, Health & Safety and Planning.

1st October 2020

Six Pump Court barristers recommended in eleven areas of law in the Legal 500 2021

Six Pump Court has been recommended in eleven areas of law in the Legal 500 2021 with 65 individual recommendations.

21st July 2020

Hindsight bias in health and safety

In an interview with Lexis Nexis, David Travers QC considers the impact of hindsight bias in health and safety cases, and what can be done to avoid it.

13th May 2020

Big fine for a small company for a failure to manage fatigue

Renown Railway Services were sentenced in a remote hearing at Nottingham Crown Court involving David Travers QC, leading Nick Ostrowski, for the ORR.

27th March 2020

First prosecution for failure of fatigue management in the rail industry

In a case which may have wide ranging implications for the use of contractors on the railway network David Travers QC, leading Nick Ostrowski, instructed by the Office of Rail & Road obtain guilty verdicts.

29th November 2019

A Practical Guide to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 by Laura Phillips is now available

Fire safety has been at the forefront of the public consciousness since the tragedy at Grenfell Tower. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is the main piece of legislation dealing with fire safety in premises other than dwellings.

11th October 2019

Six Pump Court ranked Band 1 Set and barristers ranked in eleven practice areas in 2020 Chambers UK Bar Guide

Six Pump Court Chambers is delighted to be ranked as a Band 1 Set with Set rankings in Crime, Consumer Law Environment, Health & Safety and Planning.

20th September 2019

Six Pump Court shortlisted for four awards in the Chambers UK Bar Awards 2019

The four nominations are - Crime Silk of the Year: Oliver Saxby QC; Health & Safety Silk of the Year: Stephen Hockman QC; Environment/Planning Set of the Year and Environment/Planning Junior of the Year: Christopher Badger

28th June 2019

Six Pump Court barristers recognised in the Best Lawyers in the UK 2020

Stephen Hockman QC, David Travers QC, William Upton QC and Mark Harris feature in the latest edition of The Best Lawyers in the United Kingdom.

Events

13th July 2022

Environmental and Health & Safety Regulatory Issues in Arbitration Webinar

The webinar - entitled - Environmental and Health & Safety Regulatory Issues in Arbitration Webinar will take place on Wednesday 13th July 4-6pm

20th November 2017

Regulatory and Planning Law Conference 2017 (Leeds)

Six Pump Court presents a Regulatory and Planning Law Conference to be held on 20th November in Leeds.

The event will cover a variety of topics providing essential updates on specialist areas, informative discussion on topical issues and practical tips for regulators and for those who represent the regulated.

Our health & safety team