Black or white

The average penalty per conviction has hardly increased, either — up from £6534 in 2003/04 to £7809 in 2007/08.9 The net result is that enforcement has been on the decline and penalties for offenders still remain seriously frugal. The Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 will hopefully address the current low level of fines but, unless the powers conferred on the judiciary are applied, then this new Act will not remedy the problem.
The demand for explicit directors’ duties for health and safety has been around since time immemorial, or so it seems. Actually the call only goes as far back as 1981, according to the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA).1
The crux of the issue is this: will statutory directors’ duties provide commensurate responsibility for, and accountability of, company directors in health and safety management, thereby bringing about improvements in the safety performance of organisations, or will such duties be regarded as yet another regulatory burden, which, in the main, directors will choose to ignore and the regulators will have difficulty enforcing?
In today’s business world it has become established that senior management is responsible for setting the policies, practices and goals of the organisation. In health and safety management terms, the company is responsible for ensuring the health and safety of its employees and ensuring those affected by its undertakings are not exposed to risk. There is little doubt that having someone responsible for health and safety at board level is good practice; however, whether that person should be a named safety director, or someone who reports at board level, is a moot point.
A brief history
In the Revitalising Health and Safety (RHS) strategy, introduced in June 2000, the now-extinct HSC once stipulated that “in organisations that are good in managing health and safety, health and safety is a boardroom issue and a boardroom member takes direct responsibility for the coordination of effort”.2
The RHS strategy identified a number of key themes in relation to the reduction of work related ill health, injuries and fatalities. One theme was ‘boardroom issues’, and comprised:
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Black or white
The average penalty per conviction has hardly increased, either
Safety & Health Practitioner
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