The Responsibility of Design Professionals:
The Beckingham Case

The case of the architect, Gillian Beckingham, serves a sobering reminder of the onerous burden of responsibility carried by design professionals.

Gillian Beckingham, design services manager with Barrow Borough Council, was charged with manslaughter and accused of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act over an outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease in the Council-run Forum 28 arts complex, in which seven people died.

After a two-month trial, the jury found Beckingham guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act by "failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of members of the public, thereby exposing them to the risk of contracting Legionnaires' Disease". 

The jury failed to reach a verdict on the seven counts of manslaughter with which Beckingham had been charged.

While the case did not revolve around Beckingham’s design work, and focussed on her responsibilities for the maintenance of the air-conditioning system which was thirty years old, it emphasises the seriousness of the regulatory regime under which professionals now work.

This case and the Hatfield rail crash manslaughter trial highlight the potential exposure of professionals, company directors and senior management to criminal prosecution.

The case emphasise the importance for design professionals of taking every possible measure to protect themselves and their businesses, in the event of civil or criminal actions.

This means paying extremely close attention to internal procedures and management processes, current legislation, and working with appropriate insurance cover in place.

Independent architects and designers can protect themselves to a degree with professional indemnity insurance, which will usually include cover for defence costs in the event of criminal prosecution arising from breach of statutory regulations relating to their professional services. 

Professional indemnity policies will only be triggered where such criminal proceedings could, if not defended, give rise to a civil claim for damages under the policy.

There are usually specific limits to the amount of cover provided for criminal defence - the  CSD policy, for instance,  includes £100,000 of cover but many standard policies limit the cover to £50,000.

CSD members should contact the Society for more information or visit the Members area of the website.