West Mercia Police has been fined after one of its officers was seriously injured while responding to a road traffic collision in Bridgnorth on Christmas Eve 2023.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old student officer was directing traffic at the scene of a collision on a single-carriageway road with a 60mph speed limit and no street lighting when he was struck by a passing car. The officer suffered life-threatening and life-changing injuries.<\/p>\n
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found the force had failed to adequately manage the risks associated with responding to road traffic collisions. <\/p>\n
Risk assessments were deemed insufficient and officers had not been provided with appropriate equipment to manage incidents safely.<\/p>\n
The regulator also found shortcomings in the information, instruction and training given to officers, leaving both employees and members of the public exposed to avoidable risks.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the National Police Chiefs\u2019 Council issued recommendations to UK police forces on improving officer safety at road traffic incidents following a national review.<\/p>\n
The Office of the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The force was fined \u00a385,800 and ordered to pay \u00a39,402 in costs at Birmingham Magistrates\u2019 Court on 20 February 2026.<\/p>\n
Keeley Eves, HSE inspector, said: \u201cWe recognise that police officers inevitably face significant and serious dangers as part of their normal work. The nature of policing is such that even where all reasonably practicable steps have been taken to minimise the risks, there may still be a significant risk to those engaged in such work. However, police officers should not be exposed to unnecessary risks while keeping the public safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this case, West Mercia Police failed to implement all reasonably practicable measures to minimise risks to its employees and members of the public in connection with road traffic collisions. Tragically, this resulted in a student police officer sustaining life changing injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the incident, the force implemented significant changes, which included revisions to risk assessments, policies, procedures, equipment and training. These measures should have been in place prior to the incident.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
West Mercia Police has been fined \u00a385,800 after a student officer suffered life-changing injuries when struck by a vehicle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266702,"featured_media":2043477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120902],"coauthors":[127717],"class_list":["post-2109517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal","tag-featured-story","tag-shropshire","tag-worcestershire"],"yoast_head":"\n