669 prosecutions, 144 fatal injuries and 72,702 non-fatal injuries recorded in 2015-16 – health and safety at work remains a major issue.
A report titled Summary Statistics for Great Britain 2016 has been released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and reveals figures that show how a lack of health and safety at work influences the wellbeing of employees.
Continuing the upward trend, in 2015-16 the HSE have prosecuted 669 cases, with 660 of these resulting in a conviction. Of these 669 cases, the HSE recorded 144 fatal injuries and 72,702 non-fatal injuries to workers.
Health and safety at work is clearly not a high prioritity for some organisations, however offenders are not being let off lightly.
An international law firm, Clyde and Co, who were supplied with HSE’s figures under the Freedom of Information Act, found that within these prosecution cases, 46 company directors and senior managers were prosecuted, compared to only 15 in 2014-15. Senior management is therefore being urged to pay closer attention to all health and safety legislation as they are now being held responsible.
Greater fines are also being issued by the HSE, due largely to the new sentencing guidelines which were introduced in February 2016. Guidelines under which, the cost of the fines issued to companies will depend on the size of the business, the level of culpability and harm caused.
In 2015-16 the average fine of cases that led to a conviction amounted to £58,000, enough to have a damaging effect on a company’s business.
To avoid being prosecuted and face potentially hefty fines organisations must, as a priority, take steps to ensure their compliance with legislation, ensuring that directors and senior management are on board throughout. Key to being in control here is having an efficient system in place through which any health and safety compliance obligations are closely logged, tracked, monitored and reported on.
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