by Brianna Crandall — January 20, 2016—The most dramatic change in health and safety enforcement in the United Kingdom since 1974, with new sentencing guidelines for health and safety offenses, are set to revolutionize punishment for offenses. Company compliance is more critical than ever, warns U.K.-based building services and engineering consultancy BSRIA.
The new guidelines will apply to all health and safety cases sentenced after February 1, 2016, regardless as to when the offense was committed, according to BSRIA. Fines for the largest organizations in the sector following a fatality could in the future cost tens of millions of pounds.
According to BSRIA, the guidelines set out the methodology magistrates and judges will have to adopt when sentencing, which cover:
- The harm the offense caused, with multiple deaths being considered the most serious. When considering harm, the court is entitled to consider the potential for harm as well as actual harm.
- The culpability of the offender: Was their act or omission a mere oversight, a deliberate decision taken to save money, or somewhere in the middle?
- The size of the offender, measured by reference to gross revenues (turnover). (In the construction sector, financial turnover can be a deeply misleading measure of the financial strength of a company, and it is a concern that under the new guidelines turnover will be the starting point when considering the size of the offender.)
In the future, courts will be instructed to ensure that fines are sufficiently substantial to have real economic impact on the defendant — intended to remind shareholders and managers of the need to provide a safe working environment.
The guidelines will also apply to individuals prosecuted for health and safety offenses. BSRIA points out that the “shocking” consequence of the guidelines is that it will require very little fault on the part of an individual to result in a custodial sentence, which are currently rare.
Julia Evans, chief executive, BSRIA, commented:
The U.K. has one of the best safety records globally. The unintended potential consequence of these guidelines could be that global organizations that suffer significant fines will decide that future global investment will be directed outside the U.K., where the sentencing regime is far less rigorous.
However, all workers are entitled to a safe place of work. But a balance must be struck to ensure that the punishment following a conviction is both just and proportionate, having regard to all of the circumstances. The message to BSRIA members and the wider industry is clear: re-double all efforts and checks to guarantee your operations are as safe as they can be. The consequences of failing to do so may well be severe.
All health and safety convictions attract significant media attention and, as such, the Sentencing Council appears to have flouted the reputational and consequential damage caused by a conviction for health and safety offenses, notes BSRIA. Convictions will certainly be required to be disclosed in future tenders, which may affect their ability to win future work.
BSRIA says it promotes best practice at all times, as demonstrated in its one-day Safety in Building Services Design training course, which provides guidance in designing for health and safety in the space planning of building services with respect to operations, maintenance and plant replacement.
