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Health and safety breaches – do prison sentences beckon?
7 July 2008
On Friday 4 July 2008 the Health and Safety (Offences) Bill
successfully passed through its second reading in the House of
Lords and, if it continues unopposed, could in theory reach the
statute books in the new year.
The new Bill proposes much greater powers of imprisonment in
respect of health and safety breaches together with an increase in
the fines limit in the Magistrates Court from £5,000 to £20,000 for
more offences.
Both the Health and Safety (Offences) Bill and the recently
enacted Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act highlight
a commitment to ensure health and safety is at the top of the
agenda for both public and private organisations. This new Bill
whilst not adding offences to the statute book, raises the profile
of existing offences for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work
Act 1974. This includes breaches under Section 7 which deals with
the careless acts or omissions of employees and Section 37, which
specifically addresses the actions of directors, managers,
secretaries, and other similar officers in corporate bodies.
Organisations are encouraged to review their current health and
safety procedures and systems. A good knowledge of the health and
safety legislation and guidance which applies to the operations
being conducted by the organisation is essential. Boards and those
running organisations should have systems to address the
following:
- Effective health and safety management – guidance for senior
management is given in the recently published Leading Health
and Safety at Work; Leadership Actions for Directors and Board
Members and in the HSE Guidance HSG65
- Structures in place to identify risks and procedures in place
to manage them
- Reporting procedures to the Board in particular on matters
relating to health and safety
- Systems for ensuring recommendations from serious untoward
incidents are implemented
- Systems for recruitment of competent staff, ongoing training
and supervision
- Ensuring only those competent to do so take on health and
safety responsibilities
Following any incident organisations will want to quickly
satisfy those investigating any breaches of health and safety
legislation that the organisation has a good health and safety
culture where effective processes for analysing risk, implementing
control measures and monitoring such measures are in place.
Whilst the Health and Safety at Work Act has been in place since
1974 the corporate risk for organisations has come into sharp focus
as a result of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide
Act. The proposal to extend the power of imprisonment in the Health
and Safety (Offences) Bill places similar focus on the role of
individuals whether or not the health and safety breach involves a
fatality.
Andy
Hopkin specialises in all aspects of health and safety law
including risk management and investigations by the Health and
Safety Executive. If you wish to discuss any aspect of this
bulletin please contact Andy.
Andy is presenting a seminar on the topic of corporate
manslaughter and health and safety at out Birmingham office on 12
August 2008. For further details and to book your place online,
please click here.
The content of this bulletin is provided for
the purposes of general interest and information. It contains only
brief summaries of aspects of the subject matter and does not
provide comprehensive statements of the law. It does not constitute
legal advice and does not provide a substitute for it.