legal brief risk assessment


Recent events in the Gulf of Mexico and at Buncefield have illustrated that there are important lessons to be learned for businesses. Sara Bean looks at the importance of reducing the odds of an incident through effective risk assessment.


Risk intolerance Of course, most property managers can


rest assured they’ll never have to face the kind of stringent cross examination the now ex-Chief Executive of BP Tony Hayward underwent in the US Congress, or indeed the lengthy investigation and trial incurred by the five companies involved in Buncefield. But Simon Toseland, head of health and


F


safety at Workplace Law, says there are important lessons to be learned for all businesses, not just those concerned with oil storage or hazardous chemicals. He warns that 80% of all accidents are caused by human error, and while a company may have a really good piece of paperwork regarding its health and safety systems in place, it’s important that the document is followed and understood by everyone in the business.


ollowing the oil gulf disaster, BP has said it is setting aside $32.2bn (£20.8bn) to cover the oil spill clean-up costs, and has posted record losses of $17bn. Meanwhile another oil industry


incident, the 2005 fire and explosion at the Buncefield Oil Storage Depot in Hemel Hempstead, has resulted in a £9.5m fine handed down to the five companies involved. Concluding the prosecution of Total UK


Ltd, British Pipeline Agency Ltd (BPA), Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL), TAV Engineering Ltd (TAV) and Motherwell Control Systems 2003 Ltd at St Albans Crown Court in July, Mr Justice Calvert- Smith said the companies had shown "a slackness, inefficiency and a more or less complacent attitude to safety". The £1.3m in fines for the pollution caused are a record in the UK and the £3m fines for oil company, Total, the second highest to be handed down for safety offences.


66 l Property Management Select l september 2010 l www.pm-select.co.uk


Sara Bean, managing editor of the Worklpace Law Network.


He adds: “The danger is when people


produce very comprehensive documents without reviewing them and auditing the risk against their actual practice.” His advice is to not just tick the boxes but ask how well it’s being applied within the workplace, because an effective risk assessment is the key way of ensuring that mistakes aren’t made. High profile incidents like Buncefield


shouldn’t be the only wake up call for businesses, however. Since January 2009, the Health and


Safety (Offences) Act has increased penalties for all health and safety offences. Imprisonment will now be a possible penalty for most health and safety offences in both the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court, and will also be a possible penalty for an offence committed by a body corporate. The maximum fine available in the Magistrates’ Court for breaches of Regulations has been increased from £5,000 to £20,000.


Another important issue that Toseland


warns about is not to be over-reliant on technology to do your safety checking for you; for example, prosecutions abound regarding incidents where a piece of machinery with a safety guard has had someone remove it to clear a blockage and forget to put it back on again. The other key lesson from Buncefield,


of course, is to ensure your business continuity plans are fully in place. The local Hemel Hempstead authority,


Dacorum Borough Council, identified some key areas following its experiences with Buncefield, including: • the importance of providing clear and consistent messages to all affected businesses; • that the premises that had businesses continuity arrangements in place at the time of the incident fared best; • that organisations needed to keep copies of all their records and paperwork relating to insurance and lease issues at a separate location, away from the business premises.


As with any natural or man-made


disaster you can cross your fingers and hope it doesn’t happen, but by carrying out efficient risk assessments within your business and ensuring your organisation is fully prepared should something happen beyond your control, you’ll be in a better position to pick up and carry on.


About the author


Sara Bean is managing editor of the Worklpace Law Network (www.workplacelaw.net), the membership website site for UK employers and managers, specialising in employment law, health and safety and premises management.


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