New Health and Safety Offences Act raises the stakes for businesses
As reported last year. LookOut call welcomed the news that the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 was set to come into force as of January 2009 and regards it, along with the Corporate Manslaughter Act as a vital new component of workplace health and safety legislation.
The Act raises the maximum penalties that can be imposed for breaching health and safety regulations in the lower courts from £5,000 to £20,000 and the range of offences for which an individual can be imprisoned has also been broadened.
The Act specifically targets those businesses who cut corners, gain commercial advantage over competitors by failing to comply with health and safety law and who put workers and the public at risk, thereby sending out an important message to those who flout the law.
Under the Act, jail sentences for particularly blameworthy health and safety offences committed by individuals, can now be imposed reflecting the severity of such crimes, whereas there were more limited options in the past. The Act amends Section 33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and raises the maximum penalties available to the courts in respect of certain health and safety offences. It received Royal Assent on 16 October 2008 and came into force in January 2009.
Speaking about the new Act earlier this year Judith Hackitt Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said: " This Act gives lower courts the power to impose higher fines for some health and safety offences. It is right that there should be a real deterrent to those businesses and individuals that do not take their health and safety responsibilities seriously. Everyone has the right to work in an environment where risks to their health and safety are properly managed, and employers have a duty in law to deliver this.
"Our message to the many employers who do manage health and safety well is that they have nothing to fear from this change in law. There are no new duties on employers or businesses, and HSE is not changing its approach to how it enforces health and safety law. We will retain the important safeguards that ensure that our inspectors use their powers sensibly and proportionately. We will continue to target those who knowingly cut corners, put lives at risk and who gain commercial advantage over competitors by failing to comply with the law".
The Act fulfils a longstanding Government and HSE commitment to provide the courts with greater sentencing powers for health and safety crimes. The effect of the Act is to:
- raise the maximum fine which may be imposed in the lower courts to £20,000 for most health and safety offences;
- make imprisonment an option for more health and safety offences in both the lower and higher courts;
- make certain offences, which are currently triable only in the lower courts, triable in either the lower or higher courts.
LookOut call’s Brian Caddy considers therefore the Act will be of even greater concern to business organisations than the Corporate Manslaughter Act, as he explains. “What the Health and Safety Offences Act has done is to effectively raise the stakes for those businesses who consistently flout workplace health and safety regulations. The Act’s greater sentencing powers, tougher fines and potential prison sentences for corner cutters sends out a powerful warning to employers to put their houses in order or face the consequences. I would just like therefore to pay tribute to MP Keith Hill who initially piloted the bill through Parliament, thanks to Keith and his supporters many workplaces will inevitably become safer places for employees from now on”.
