Pressure on Safety
Amid the recent snow and accompanying chaos, you may be forgiven for missing the fact that stringent new health and safety laws came into force in mid January.
The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 raises the maximum fines that can be imposed in the lower courts and gives high courts and magistrates the power to imprison employers for a greater number of offences. Natasha Freeman, president of the Institute of Occupational Health and Safety commented “This is the first piece of legislation that recognises that a health and safety manager may not be in control of an outcome; even if an action is recommended, then a director may not take action. Now it won’t necessarily be the health and safety manager who is responsible…”.
This is the second significant shift in health and safety law in a short space of time. The Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 which, contrary to popular belief, did not impose any new requirements, like the Health and Safety Offences Act 2008, simply makes it easier to punish a company and its executives.
(Extracted from various articles in the February 2009 edition of Quality World.)
12 February 2009 - 1:49pm