19 June 2017

Prosecutions and fines rise by 148%

It's understood that companies across the UK have been forced to pay out over £61m in health and safety fines throughout 2016, almost 2.5 times that seen in 2015.

Research conducted by insurance companies found that there were a total of 292 incidents recorded during 2016, with an average pay-out of almost a quarter of a million pounds. This is four times the £69,500 average cost seen the previous year, where 358 cases were brought.

This follows a change in legislation made in February 2016, with new guidelines imposed for health and safety, food hygiene and corporate manslaughter offences. The court now considers culpability, seriousness and likelihood of harm and the size of a business and its turnover when imposing fines.

Fines for businesses with a turnover in excess of £50m can now reach up to £10m for health and safety offences, and corporate manslaughter fines could be as much as £20m. This new system has been implemented to improve the standards of compliance with health and safety legislation for larger organisations by imposing fines proportionate to the size of the business, rather than using a universal figure for all offences.

It's understood 18 fines were issued last year, totalling a value of over £1m, compared with only two in 2015 - this includes the high profile £5m fine issued to Alton Towers following the Smiler disaster, which remains the largest ever fine from a single incident.
Over the last 12 months doorsteps visit for health, safety and environmental (HS&E) in the South of the UK, have increased by at least 300% in 2016 compared to 2015. Therefore we're hoping this is a strong message to members to ensure that safety processes and systems are a board level priority. Businesses could be subject to a HS&E review and therefore could be subject to potential prosecution.

The BPIF have extensive experience in carrying out health and safety reviews for members, producing a gap analysis report based on legislation as a priority. With this report the management team will understand any risks held on site and can prioritise an action plan to improve health and safety for their business. Our BPIF Health and Safety Advisers have a background of experience for different industries, whether small, medium or large in size.

To understand how health and safety legislation impacts you and to gain support in understanding any risks, contact your BPIF HS&E Adviser or book an appointment for an H&S Healthcheck to ensure your business is fully complying with regulations.