Claire Rawle Partner

Claire is a Partner who leads the Health, Safety and Environmental team which is recognised as having one of the leading Health and Safety practices in the UK. 

Main areas of practice

Claire is a specialist advocate and her national practice consists of all aspects of contentious matters involving Health, Safety and Environmental legislation. Claire has over 20 years-experience of advising and representing clients in both the private and public sectors across a range of industries on a variety of regulatory and criminal enforcement issues relevant to their service provision.

Claire provides a 24 hour Critical Incident Response service for her clients and her work includes managing their response to a critical incident; advice and representation at interviews under caution; support throughout the course of a joint investigation by Police/HSE; representation at Coroners’ inquests; defence of criminal prosecutions brought by CPS and/or HSE; conduct of civil claims arising as a result of the critical incident conduct of Appeals against Enforcement Notices. She advises on Critical Incident management and planning to include preparation of protocols and implementation training. A considerable number of her cases have been complex and have attracted considerable media interest at both a local and national level.

Significant experience

Regulatory

• Representing a client who operates a scrap metal recycling plant in relation to an ongoing corporate manslaughter investigation being undertaken by the Police following the death of an employee on site;
• Representing a Company in respect of fatality caused by unsafe methods of working at height. She assisted the client in the course of the Joint Investigation by the Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE); represented the client at the Inquest, and the subsequent HSE prosecution and thereafter, handled the civil claim brought by deceased's estate

Environmental

• Advising a national utilities company in relation to critical incident planning to include the drafting of a protocol and supporting guidance.
• Advising and representing private utilities company in relation to various prosecutions following water pollution incidents.
• Advising and representing private utilities company in relation to waste management issues and duty of care obligations.
• Advising NHS Trusts and other healthcare providers in relation to waste management issues and compliance with duty of care obligations to include specific clinical and special waste issues.
• Advising NHS Trusts in relation to investigation undertaken by the Regulators in relation to waste management issues and compliance with duty of care obligations to include specific clinical and special waste issues.
• Advising individual and corporate clients in relation to water pollution prosecutions.
• Advising and representing individual and corporate clients in respect of prosecutions brought by Environment Agency for breaches of waste management licences and associated legislation.
• Advising and representing clients in relation to prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency for breach of the Producers' Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997.
• Conduct of appeals against prohibition and improvement notices for NHS Trusts and private companies.