Health and Safety (Offences) Bill passes to House of Lords

The Health and Safety (Offences) Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 5 December 2007, and is now to be debated by the House of Lords. It will go to Committee on 18 July 2008. The Bill is intended to raise the maximum penalties available to the courts in respect of certain health and safety offences.

If adopted, the Bill would raise the maximum fine which may be imposed on summary trial from £5,000 to £20,000 for most offences, and would make imprisonment an option for more offences. It would also make certain offences, which are currently only triable in lower courts, triable in either the lower or higher courts.

At present, imprisonment is only an option in certain cases, such as where an improvement or prohibition notice has been breached. As noted above, the Bill would make imprisonment more widely available for a number of breaches of the HSWA, and of particular note are the sections of HSWA relating to individual liability. Employees can be prosecuted under section 7 of HSWA if they have not taken reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves or other persons affected by their acts or omissions, or where they have not co-operated with their employers in health and safety matters. Likewise, section 37 of HSWA allows action to be taken against individual directors, managers and officers where a failure can be attributed to their neglect, consent or connivance. Currently, employees found to be in breach of section 7, and directors, managers and officers found to be in breach of section 37, can face a fine not exceeding £5000 on summary trial, or an unlimited fine on indictment. The Bill raises the maximum summary fine to £20,000 and also proposes a term of 12 months imprisonment on summary trial, and proposes a term of 2 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine on indictment.

The Bill also makes imprisonment available following a breach of duties under sections 2, 3, 4 and 6 of the HSWA. However, the extent of this will be limited, as a company has “no soul to damn and no body to kick”, and cannot therefore be imprisoned. It will require to be demonstrated that a particular individual was responsible for the breach, and this will only be possible in very rare cases, such as where an employer is a sole trader.
The Bill has received widespread support in the Commons. Although it is the fifth time a bill to raise the punishment level for health and safety offences has been introduced to Parliament, this is the first time such a bill looks likely to become law. The changes have been introduced in light of the Hampton and Macrory Reports, commissioned as part of the Government’s ongoing program of regulatory reform.

The Department for Work and Pensions and the HSE are currently making plans to publicise the increased penalties under the Bill.

To view the Health and Safety (Offences) Bill click here.