A court summons has been issued to Jersey’s gas company following the Haut du Mont explosion.
Jersey Gas Company Ltd – which trades under the name Island Energy – has been summonsed to appear at the Magistrate’s Court to answer charges relating to the incident on Pier Road, which claimed the lives of ten Islanders in December 2022.
The two charges relate to the alleged failure of ensuring the health and safety of employees at the company and others not in their employment.
The alleged offences are contrary to Article 21(a) of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989, which are subject to unlimited fines and, in some cases, imprisonment. The summons has been brought by the Health and Safety Inspectorate – an independent regulator of the Island’s workplaces – following their own investigation after the incident.
In a statement, the regulator said its investigation had run in parallel with that of the States of Jersey Police as part of Operation Spire and had also been supported by specialist inspectors and technical experts from Britain’s Health and Safety Executive.
