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Trustee Landowners – in the Land Registry’s Sights? The Land Registry is currently consulting on proposals to increase the amount of land in England and Wales that is registered. Currently, a little over 60% of land is registered but the Land Registry’s ultimate aim is to ensure that all land in England and Wales is registered. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Occupiers’ Liability – Are you an Occupier? Most landowners are aware that they can be held responsible for people who enter onto their land and injure themselves. The standard expected from landowners varies – a private landowner does not have to take as much care to protect an adult trespasser, particularly when the danger is obvious, as a public authority does to protect a child playing in its playgrounds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corporate Manslaughter – All Employers Should Read This! 6th April has come and gone but it heralded the new corporate manslaughter regime and many employers will have hardly given it a moment’s thought. I have recently run and been invited to speak at seminars highlighting the implications of this new Act. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What’s in your Tank? There has been a wholesale review of what types of vehicles are entitled to use rebated fuel. An example of this is the sweeping away of the road construction exemption and replacing it with an altogether more restrictive regime. If you are running road-going vehicles on red diesel, now would be a very good time to review the legality of what you are doing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Losing your Operator Licence is Purely Voluntary The disciplinary issues I frequently have to contend with on behalf of clients are maintenance-related. When I compare the standards expected by Traffic Commissioners when I did my first disciplinary public inquiry 15 or more years ago to the standards of today, it is clear the requirements are far stricter than they used to be. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor (DGSA) UK and EU Regulations require individuals and organisations engaged in the carriage of dangerous goods, which fall into scope, to appoint a DGSA (by Road or Rail). The regulations affect small, medium and multi-national business, for example hauliers, warehouse keepers and chemical and petroleum plants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Employment issues Claims against employers for racial discrimination in the workplace are certainly on the increase if our current workload is anything to go by. Knowledge of equality law is of particular importance when employing workers from EU member states, e.g. Eastern European drivers. There is an alarming trend in the haulage and skip operating industry of the absence of employment contracts, which leave employers open to (often spurious) claims by workers of discrimination in the workplace. It is essential that terms and conditions of employment be laid down at the outset of employment so that each party is aware of its respective obligations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Juggernauts! In a recent edition of the Irish Independent, there was a short account of a fatal road accident in which an elderly lady had been killed as the result of a collision with a “juggernaut”. Unhappily, the majority of the readers of the Independent will recognise the “juggernaut” as being an articulated lorry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consultancies Dyne Solicitors Limited hold a number of breakfast seminars in each year, covering both environmental and health and safety issues. The next meetings are due to be held on 20th May, 10th June and 15th July 2008. For more information contact Lucienne Sutton on ls@dynesolicitors.co.uk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive News |
