HEALTH & SAFETY


Although the company had procedures and safeguards in place, the Judge noted a failure to properly identify and control risks. The level of culpability in this case may have been classed as “Medium” as systems were in place but they were not sufficiently adhered to or implemented.


In mitigation, the company pointed to its high level of cooperation with the HSE as well as significant investment in new systems designed to prevent recurrence. The fine that was actually imposed by the court was £3 million – equating to £1 million for each offence.


BE AWARE: NEW


SENTENCING GUIDELINES 2016


On 1st February 2016, the new


sentencing guidelines for health and safety offences came into force.


They direct the courts to consider the sentencing of offending organisations by way of a step-by-step approach, RDHS, the training and competency advisors explain what this means for businesses.


On the 8th February 2016, ConocoPhillips (UK) Limited became the first very large organisation to be convicted and sentenced under the new regime. The company, which has a turnover of £4.8 billion, pleaded guilty to three breaches of relevant health and safety regulations for a series of uncontrolled and unexpected gas releases at one of its offshore installations.


Although nobody was actually injured, due to a communication breakdown workers were sent to investigate the incident while there was still gas present. When sentencing, the Judge commented that the risk of death or serious injury would have been extremely high had there been a gas ignition. In applying the guidelines, this may have been regarded as a “Harm Category 1” case due to the seriousness of the harm risked and the high likelihood of harm.


36 | TOMORROW’S FM


The ConocoPhillips case demonstrates the dramatic shift in the landscape of health and safety sentencing that the guidelines have brought about; a breach of health and safety regulations that did not result in injury may have previously attracted a fine in the tens of thousands, as opposed to millions.


CORPORATE CONSIDERATIONS The culpability of a defendant company remains the most


decisive factor in determining the appropriate level of fine to be imposed by the Courts. It is therefore important for organisations to be able to demonstrate that they have robust safety management systems in place that are properly invested in and implemented.


In light of the guidelines’ focus on company turnover, fines for large and very large companies that are guilty of committing health and safety offences are going to increase significantly.


COMPETENCIES AND STANDARDS Training your workforce has never been more important.


Why would you want your staff to operate to a level that is deemed sub-standard. Not only do businesses place individual workers at risk, they also risk the safety of their dependencies and that of the reputation of their business.


Directors are accountable for leading the management of risk across their business, ensuring appropriate arrangements are in place to manage them. Directors must ensure that risk controls are planned, workforce trained and mitigation arrangements put into effect. If a vision of a ‘harm-free environment’ is to be achieved, the competencies of their workforce need to be realised at all levels within their business.


Businesses must define the requirements for competence throughout their workforce. This will include competencies in skills and records required to perform work, and function-specific technical competencies.


Proof of suitability must also be defined, ensuring all contractors’ and workforce are in possession of the correct documentation to work. Verification of competency should be identified through an appropriate ‘job safety analysis’ or training matrix and should be tested through the Risk Assessment and Method Statement (RAMS) submission.


www.rdhs-ltd.co.uk twitter.com/TomorrowsFM


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