Two companies fined £500,000 and £300,000 following conviction for corporate manslaughter

In R v Ozdil Investments Ltd, two companies were convicted of corporate manslaughter and their directors imprisoned for health and safety breaches, after a worker suffered fatal injuries after a fall.

COMPANY 1: Ozdil Investments Ltd fined £300,000.00

COMPANY 2: Koseoglu Metal Works fined £300,000.00

A court case has seen three company directors jailed and fined for the death of a worker. The case, which was brought before Chelmsford Crown Court, revealed the incident that led to 63-year-old Nikolai Valkov falling through the roof of a warehouse in 2015.

According to the evidence presented at the court proceedings, Valkov was working on the roof and fell to his death after stepping onto a discoloured skylight.

The case was brought against Koseoglu Metal Works and Ozdil Investments Ltd. The latter was the owner of the warehouse and had sought repairs for the roof. However, caution had been given from both the Health and Safety Executive and Harlow District Council about the dangers of the work and the need for correct safety measures.

Despite this warning, Ozdil Investments Ltd’s directors Firat Ozdil and Ozgur Ozdil paid Koseoglu Metalworks Ltd to carry out the work. Kadir Kose, director of the firm, did so without netting or safety measures in place.

Furthermore, Koseoglu Metalworks Ltd had no experience of undertaking roofing work and charged the Ozdils around £100,000 less than a roofing contractor would have charged. The case revealed the workers undertaking the repairs had no training to do so and Kose failed to conduct a risk assessment for the work.