FEATURE
LOWERING CULPABILITY
While prioritising health and safety is a moral obligation for any organisation, the business impact of getting it wrong cannot be ignored and new sentencing guidelines for health and safety introduced in February 2016 have resulted in longer prison sentences and larger fines for those who fall foul of the law.
The sentencing guidelines suggest fines should be substantial enough to have an economic impact that will get management and shareholders to take notice. Since their introduction the average fine per conviction for a health and safety offence in the construction sector has risen from a pre-guideline average of £57,735, to £107,000 in 2018/19. There has also been an unexpected rise in the size of fines imposed on small businesses which has almost doubled to £126,000. It’s also important to note that it’s now the risk of harm that is recognised as the offence and increasingly large fines are being handed down without any actual harm taking place.
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Since the introduction of the new sentencing guidelines, penalties for breaching health and safety law have got tougher. Having the appropriate processes in place can help to mitigate the risks, says CHAS Managing Director Ian McKinnon.
There is much businesses can do to lower their culpability and ensure that in the event of an incident they never face fines of these figures but first it’s useful to understand how fines are decided.
LEVELS OF CULPABILITY The starting point for fines is based on a number
of factors including a company’s size and its level of culpability which ranges from very high to low. For a large company accused of a serious offence with very high culpability this means a fine could begin at £4m whereas this would start at £300,000 in the case of low culpability. Likewise, for a micro business with high culpability a fine could start at £250,000 whereas low culpability would result in a starting point of £30,000.
Very high culpability includes deliberate breach of or flagrant disregard for the law while factors that lower culpability include a good health and safety record and having effective procedures in place. The right processes vary depending on the size and nature of an organisation. A good reference point is HSE’s guide on managing for health and safety (HSG 65) which provides a clear process-based approach to risk management.
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For larger companies following ISO 45001 or other similar management standards may be appropriate as they can help provide a structured framework
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“ANYONE ENGAGING CONTRACTORS HAS HEALTH AND
SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIES, BOTH FOR THE CONTRACTORS AND ANYONE ELSE THAT COULD BE AFFECTED BY THEIR ACTIVITIES.”
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