Guest post from David Cant

The majority of the posts on this site are written by members of the C&D team, but from time to time we feature a guest post on a particular subject or from a particular person and today that person is David Cant.

David is a very well respected H&S advisor and CDM-C, and here at C&D we will be working together with David on a number of contracts over the next few months. Put the kettle on, make a brew and take a look at what David has to say:

Why Health and Safety Breaches May Cost You More Than You Think
Very few employers deliberately risk the safety of their workforce, but there will always be a small minority who cut corners that pose a significant risk to life and limb. There is an assumption that in the event they are caught, these unscrupulous organisations will be able to pay a fine and resume business on the following Monday.

Latest HSE stats give pause for thought
Not only are prosecutions on the rise, the penalties meted out by the courts are getting stiffer. The HSE reports a corresponding increase in custodial sentences too. Between June and July 2014, ten custodial sentences were handed down for health and safety offences.

This contrasts significantly with the previous 40 years in which just over 100 prison terms were issued – an average of 2.5 jail sentences each year since the Health and Safety at Work Act came into force. In just two months there has been a 400% increase over the annual average of custodial sentences.

With custodial sentences on the increase, the HSE and the judiciary are clearly sending a message to employers.

Extreme cases demand extreme sentences
In each of the cases this year, health and safety failings led to the death of a worker. However each instance was further complicated by other failings that hindered HSE investigations. In one of the 2014 examples, the employer was fined £12,000 for failing to comply with a Notice to Produce from the HSE. The builder involved, Mark Hayes, deliberately failed to provide information to the HSE for their investigation, slowing the process and postponing the dead worker’s inquest.

In a second, unrelated case, the two directors of Aztech BA were jailed after an employee fell to his death. Again there were other offences taken into consideration that increased the severity of the penalty handed down, not least convictions for fraud and Company Act offences. Aztech BA were fined £100,000 and the directors given custodial sentences of up to 16 months each.

Not common, but not to be ignored
Custodial sentences for breaching the Health and Safety Act are extremely rare. However they are a real threat to businesses that wilfully endanger the lives of their employees and do not work with the HSE to remedy issues efficiently. Courts are also likely to impose custodial sentences for health and safety breaches where there is evidence of other crimes having been committed.

If your business is given a Notice of Improvement, or a Notice to Produce, you must act quickly to improve conditions for your employees if you are to avoid even harsher penalties. Like any custodial sentence, those handed down for health and safety breaches are reserved for the very worst offenders.

How does your business deal with requests and orders from the HSE in a timely manner? Have your directors ever faced prison time for placing employees in danger?