individual having to be guilty of gross negligence manslaughter.


Charges under the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 can run alongside a prosecution for Corporate Manslaughter. As fines under either charge are unlimited in the Crown Court, it may, in practice, be difficult to draw a distinction in the mind of a jury as to the point at which a serious Health & Safety breach crosses into the realm of Corporate Manslaughter. However, the perceived need for opprobrium may increase conviction rates, particularly as guilt will be determined by a jury. When the Bill finally passes statute, prosecutors will be keen to test their new powers - Eversheds predict an increase in prosecutions brought.


As the Bill is still liable to change, further full comment is reserved until it is in its final form; this will be the basis for an update article in this magazine. Suffice to say that conviction under either the old or the new law will seriously damage your market profile and may make recruitment and retention of talented staff difficult.


In conclusion, merely being a limited company will not shield you from the criminal consequences flowing from a fatality at work. The sad reality is that simple mistakes can give rise to catastrophic consequences out of all proportion to the original act. The difficulty is spotting the potential harm before anything untoward occurs. Accidents do happen in the industry. People get injured. Some of these injuries prove fatal. The trauma of undergoing a lengthy trial and the years of waiting for it to come to court are


terrifying experiences for otherwise law abiding people. An individual gross negligence manslaughter prosecution is incredibly stressful and can literally break a person.


If you are prosecuted, your insurance cover may provide for legal costs, but it will not provide for any fine imposed upon you, nor is it likely to cover any prosecution costs that you may be called upon to pay. The fines are growing; Transco were fined £15 Million in recent months. The law on corporate manslaughter is changing, but this will only tighten the duties on you and make it even simpler for a prosecution to be made out. Resolve to act now.


Eversheds also offer a range of training programmes designed to assist businesses to comply with Health & Safety regulation - subjects covered include Corporate Manslaughter and managing an HSE investigation. For further details, contact Paul Verrico.


Paul C. Verrico Solicitor – Regulatory, Leeds


Link DDI: 0845 498 4084 Mob: 0777 067 8808 Fax: 0845 498 4994


Email: paulverrico@eversheds.com www.eversheds.com


Bearing productivity in mind Swiss bearing manufacturer increases productivity by 30% with DOPAG grease metering system


Swiss bearing manufacturer increases productivity by 30% with DOPAG grease metering system


Founded in 1961, WIB is a speciality miniature precision bearing manufacturer located in Bulle, Switzerland with an industrial customer base of original equipment manufacturers and distributors in more than 30 countries of the world, to whom they export around 95% of production output.


WIB manufacturers products under it’s own “Swiss Made” brand, as well as for many other major bearing manufacturers around the world.


Following the assembly process, each bearing must be individually lubricated with a metered shot of grease. This is a labour intensive procedure, as each bearing must be offered manually to the metering device.


Previously, WIB were using a 1 kg size shot pump, which frequently needed to be manually refilled, causing delays in production and increased the


opportunity for spillages. Furthermore, the grease application device was hand operated, which often led to repetitive strain for the operator.


DOPAG Switzerland’s answer to this unsatisfactory condition was to design a replacement system that featured a


under pressure to two separate DOPAG cartridge type metering valves, which allows the operator to process two bearings simultaneously if desired.


Foot operated pedals control the metering valves, leaving the operator’s hands completely free to locate the bearings into the purpose designed applicators. An added feature of this new system is the ability to quickly and simply replace the applicators to fit a variety of different bearing sizes whenever needed.


DOPAG P30 drum pump, to feed the grease directly from the 25 kg shipping pails, thereby entirely avoiding the process of decanting the grease into a separate pump.


The P30 pump is able to develop sufficient power to feed the grease


Remarkably, WIB have reported a 30% increase in productivity as a result of purchasing the new system, as well as a marked improvement in cleanliness due to the use of the P30 pump, whilst at the same time, the operators have found it to be far more user friendly, further adding to the increased productivity.


Link www.wib-bearings.com


LUBE MAGAZINE JUNE 2007 21


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