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Health & Safety

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Health & Safety is of paramount importance to all businesses. As an increasingly regulated area, every employer must comply with health and safety rules to protect employees, contractors, visitors and the general public. These regulations also put responsibility on all employees, so it is vital that everyone is aware of the relevant legislation.

As an employer, you may need advice on regulatory matters, risk management, corporate governance, enforcement actions, transactional due diligence or claims for compensation.

The CMS Health & Safety Team advises all types of businesses, and has particularly strong expertise in supporting the oil & gas, waste and mining sectors. We provide 24-hour support for emergency incidents and respond quickly to incidents of all types – but particularly in the high-hazard industries.

We regularly advise our clients on health and safety prosecutions, accident inquiries, formal interviews and investigations undertaken by inspectors, corporate manslaughter investigations, inquests and fatal accident inquiries, appeals against improvement and prohibition notices, compliance with UK and European regulatory requirements, fire safety regulation, drafting corporate safety policies and contract documentation, safety aspects of projects and property management, due diligence in acquisitions, directors and officers personal liabilities, management training courses, personal injury defence and risk management, and training.

We have significant experience advising in the waste, mining, oil & gas and real estate sectors.

"The group are excellent - they are proactive, pragmatic and commercial."

Chambers, 2024

"It is a very client-focused and commercially aware firm."

Chambers, 2024

"I think CMS is unique in its depth and breadth of knowledge in some of the core client business areas of activity, particularly heavy industry and waste management where many serious and fatal accidents continue to accrue."

Legal 500, 2024

"The team has an innate understanding of their client’s businesses and the risks involved in them, which makes the firm very easy to work with. The resource available at CMS is also second-to-none so every aspect of a case can be dealt with at the very best level no matter how remote or esoteric the point."

Legal 500, 2024

"CMS is a tough outfit where everybody pulls their weight for the client. The work ethic and level of commitment to cases is second-to-none in my experience. The partners lead by example in this respect and Lukas Rootman in particular stands out."

Legal 500, 2024

"Their deep and historic understanding of heavy and waste industries is second-to-none, so they are extremely well-placed to offer advice and act when things go wrong, as they inevitably do in high-risk industries."

Legal 500, 2024

"CMS resources cases well. Individuals genuinely work well together; they seemingly have good synergy across regional offices and departments where cases need a multidisciplinary approach."

Legal 500, 2024

"CMS’ strength in depth across multiple disciplines has enabled them to provide a comprehensive, responsive and much valued service that has contributed immensely to our work."

Legal 500, 2024

"They have an impressive depth of specialist resources to immediately call upon where required."

Legal 500, 2024

"The CMS team has impressed in challenging circumstances with its flexibility, responsiveness and customer focus."

Legal 500, 2024

"CMS is thorough in its approach to complex issues and analysis of such matters, providing sound advice in doing so."

Chambers, 2023

"Extremely knowledgeable yet with expertise covering a wide number of disciplines thereby capable of dealing with complex multi jurisdictional problems."

Legal 500, 2023

"The in depth knowledge of the law and procedures when it comes to health and safety is second to none."

Legal 500, 2022

"The team at CMS has a real understanding of the business we operate. As a result they are often regarded as an integral part of our own team and not as external lawyers. They also have the ability to give very concise guidance on complex issues which assists with overall strategy and decision making."

Legal 500, 2022
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