Since the 2016 Health and Safety Sentencing Guidelines introduced penalties based on turnover, we’ve seen a steady rise in the level of fines facing organisations prosecuted for breaching health and safety legislation. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) data shows during the period 2019/20-2021/22 that while the total value of all fines has decreased the average fine per case increased by around 35%. This year, we have already seen media reports of five fines of more than £1million, matching the total for all of last year.
Aside from the financial impact of fines, health and safety prosecutions carry significant reputational consequences should they involve the serious injury or death of an individual and lead to headline-grabbing fines. But the most important factor is the human cost when someone is hurt or killed on your watch. There are potentially traumatic consequences for the victim, their loved ones, and those deemed to have failed to protect the victim’s health and safety at work. In addition, the emotional trauma of experiencing the serious injury or death of someone working for your organisation, individual directors, managers or employees within businesses need to be aware of their potential exposure to personal prosecutions, which may also be on the rise.
There have already been a notable number of successful prosecutions against individual directors and employees in 2023 reported in the public domain and we expect this figure may rise throughout the 2022/23 reporting period (due to the fact the reporting period runs until October during which time further personal prosecutions currently ongoing are likely to conclude with sentencing hearings at court).
This insight offers five ways to protect your organisation and its directors, managers and employees and avoid paying the potentially high price of becoming part of the HSE’s enforcement statistics.
An opportunity for risk managers
Waiting for an incident to be the catalyst for a change in your health and safety culture can create significant human costs and hit the long-term financial performance of your business.
Waiting for an incident… can create significant human costs and hit the long-term financial performance
Risk managers can be the galvanising force for changes to your organisation’s approach to health and safety. You can do this by focusing less on the unfortunate symptoms of poor health and safety, such as fines and worker harm, and instead deal with the root causes. This will involve you reviewing not only at individual near-misses or accidents, but patterns and deeper-rooted cultural issues.
For expert help to prevent your business from facing enforcement action and to reduce its health and safety risk, get in touch.
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