Health & Safety Legislation Alert - The Health and Safety (Offences) Bill

Summary

If enacted, the Health and Safety (Offences) Bill will amend the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 to raise the maximum penalties available to the courts in respect of certain health and safety offences.

Objective

The objective behind the changes is that sentences for health and safety offences be sufficient to deter those tempted to break the law and deal appropriately with those who do commit offences. The overriding objective is to promote a good health and safety culture.

The arrival of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act which came into force on 6 April 2008 (read our analysis of the Act) and the latest proposals issued by the Sentencing Advisory Panel (which can be found in our analysis of the proposals) has already sent a clear message to employers that health and safety failures will be punished severely enough to cause shareholders to sit up and take note. This Bill will build on that message.

Key areas

The Bill seeks to:

• Raise the maximum fine for both companies and individuals which may be imposed by the lower courts to £20,000 for most health and safety offences.
• Make a prison sentence an option for individuals convicted of most health and safety offences in lower and higher courts. At present, imprisonment is an option only in certain cases.
• Makes certain offences that can currently only go to trial in lower courts, triable in either the lower or higher courts. This opens up more offences to unlimited fines.

Comment

Although the Bill was introduced as a private members' bill it has received support from the government and therefore has a good chance of becoming law. It is currently making its way through Parliament.

This Bill, together with the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act will focus employers' minds and force businesses to review their health and safety programmes.

Click on the action points in the above analyses to see if they can help your business avoid the proposed increase in sanctions.