February 2016 will see the most dramatic change in Health and Safety enforcement for over 40 years.
February 2016 will see the most dramatic change in Health and Safety enforcement for over 40 years, since the Health and Safety at Work Act came into force in 1974.
The new guidelines will apply to all Health and Safety offences committed by companies and individuals as well as to corporate manslaughter offences sentenced in the courts from 1st February 2016 onwards.
The new nine-step codified approach will be tied to corporate turnover and will inevitably herald huge increases in fines for medium and large businesses.
This new approach in summary includes the following changes:
Size of company/fine ranges – there are now five categories of business, from micro to very large. Each category will have a fine range for a health and safety offence.
Degree of culpability – there will be four categories of culpability from low to very high.
Harm – there will be three levels of harm.
Corporate manslaughter – An offence will be category A where a high level of culpability arises and category B where there is a lower level of culpability.
Individuals – The same categorisations of culpability and harm as for companies apply to the assessment of sentence for individuals convicted of health and safety offences. You can read more on the Lexology website.
Intersafe have been delivering tailored solutions and safeguarding organisations for 20 years. They are specialist in Periodic Insepction and Testing, PAT Testing and Thermal Imaging. Contact Stephanie by calling 02380 610101 or email stephanie@intersafe.co.uk to book an appointment.
