FEATURE FOCUS: HEALTH & SAFETY Image: Shutterstock


MAKING MANUFACTURING SAFER


Are manufacturers keeping up with health & safety changes?


by Natalie Puce, health and safety partner, BLM T


he new guidelines mean that organisational safety has been put into


sharp focus and hefty fines are promised for those companies failing to protect employees against known and preventable safety risks. Since then, fine values have rocketed – in manufacturing, this has seen some fines reach £3.8 million.


ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL Whilst large organisations have grabbed the headlines for the huge fines, the majority of prosecutions are brought against much smaller businesses; these may lack the manpower or financial resources to adequately fund well- structured safety management, and often do not have the same access to health and safety information, resources or support. The fines are relative to turnover and whilst smaller businesses rarely face seven figure fines, they can be subject to significant fines running into the hundreds of thousands – potentially catastrophic for their organisation. No court sets out to destroy a business and its ability to remain viable following a fine is taken into consideration; however, this does not mean the fine will not be punitive and the impact must be felt across the business. Culpability can scale the size of a fine


considerably, sometimes from seven figures to a lower six figure sum. If an organisation admits guilt in the event of a breach, but is able to demonstrate and evidence a progressive approach to health & safety (e.g. regular risk


1 MAY 2019 | FACTORY EQUIPMENT 2


assessments, minutes for meetings discussing existing risks and how to solve them), this can count in reducing the level of culpability, and therefore the size of the fine. In addition, last summer the Sentencing


Council announced increased sentences for individuals convicted of gross negligence manslaughter (GNM). GNM was initially excluded from the 2016 guidelines, and this new guidance adopts a more punitive approach to sentences; with the most serious cases seeing individuals face up to 18 years in prison – current sentences for these cases rarely breach the ten year period. Significantly, the sentences are retrospective, so will apply to all cases heard before the courts after November 2018, irrespective of the date of offence.


FINE ESCALATION Fines for manufacturing health and safety breaches have totalled over £42 million since 2016. The largest fines include £3.8 million to Explore Manufacturing Ltd. and Select Plant Hire Company Ltd. The two companies were found liable for the death of an employee in 2017, after he was thrown from a mobile elevating platform. Fatalities and life-changing injuries are


a common feature of manufacturing health & safety fines; of the five highest- value fines, three involved workplace deaths. Amputations are also unfortunately very common in the


BLM www.blmlaw.com T: +44 20 7638 2811


Natalie Puce, health and safety partner at law firm, BLM


industry, and for manufacturers classed as ‘very large’ or ‘large’, this could result in fines in the millions if they are found in breach of health & safety regulation. For example, Tata UK Ltd. was fined


£1.98 million after two employees lost fingers and hands after a machine was inadequately guarded, being sentenced under Section 2 of the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974. Just over a year later, the company suffered another significant penalty after being found in breach of the same section of the same act (and Section 3 (1) also) for an incident which left five workers exposed to the risk of serious injury of death from a toxic vapour cloud; this time, it was fined £930,000.


RISKS FACING MANUFACTURERS The risk of harm is a feature of the guidelines so organisations that put employees or the public at risk can be prosecuted irrespective of whether there is an actual injury. So, in practice, a system of work which


exposes employees to risk is vulnerable to a prosecution. The more employees exposed to the risk is taken into consideration, as is the length of time that risk has existed. It is therefore essential that thorough, pro-active risk assessments are undertaken and regularly reviewed. The last three years have sent a stark


message across all sectors and manufacturing remains a very high risk industry. Engagement with safety issues and education across the industry is key to ensuring that the safety statistics improve.


/ FACTORYEQUIPMENT


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