Health & Safety breaches bring tough penalties

by Nick Gutteridge

New legislation introduced this year means that employers now face even tougher penalties for Health and Safety breaches.

The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 came into effect Friday 16th January and places greater emphasis on the importance of Health and Safety in the workplace.

Employers may feel swamped by red tape and regulation when it comes to ensuring the safety of their staff. It is after all less than 12 months since the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force. Under that Act certain organisations may be found guilty of the offence of corporate manslaughter if the way in which they are managed or organised causes a death and amounts to a gross breach of their duty of care.

This new legislation is a little different however in that it does not impose any additional duties upon individuals or businesses but instead increases the penalties for breaching the existing laws. 

The new Act will introduce:

* an increase in the maximum fine which may be imposed in the lower (magistrates’) court from £5,000 to £20,000 for most Health and Safety offences;
* the possibility of imprisonment for individuals prosecuted for Health and Safety offences in both the lower and higher courts;
* the option of certain offences which are currently triable only in the lower courts being triable in the higher courts thus exposing the defendant to greater sentencing powers.

Currently, under Section 37 of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 directors and senior managers can be convicted if it is shown that an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions is a result of their connivance or negligence. The new legislation stipulates that any such prosecution can now lead to a jail sentence. 

The new penalties in the Act are not retrospective and so can not be applied to offences committed prior to Friday 16th January 2009. 

It is crucial therefore that businesses are paying attention to Health and Safety in their workplace. The concept of being sent to jail even in the most extreme cases of negligence may seem draconian, but it is also most certainly avoidable where there is compliance with existing laws.

The reality is that those companies and employers who manage health and safety well have nothing to fear, but for those individuals or businesses who cut corners and fail to apply the law properly there is now an unprecedented level of severity that the courts can take when sentencing. 

Nick Gutteridge is Head of Personal Injury at Burnetts. For further information on Health and Safety, contact Nick on 01228 552222.

April 2009