News Article

Health and Safety Offences Bill


Posted by Carl Gryniewicz | Date Posted 14.10.2008 | Time Posted 03:10:45 | Views: 397

The Health and Safety (Offences) Bill has now had its third reading in the House of Commons, taking it a step closer to becoming law.

The Bill, which would raise the maximum fines and make prison an option for health and safety offences, has now reached the ‘ping pong’ stage, where it passes back and forth between the House of Lords and the House of Commons so that amendments to it can be debated. The next step after that is Royal Assent, where the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament.

During the third reading in the House of Lords, Lord McKenzie underlined that the Bill will not add or change existing health and safety requirements and duties on individuals and businesses:

“I can also confirm that the health and safety regulators are not changing their prosecution policy on individuals as a result of the Bill.

“Under health and safety law since 1974, imprisonment has always been available in the lower courts for failure to comply with an improvement or prohibition notice or court remedy order and offshore offences and, in the higher courts only, for failure to comply with licensing requirements, explosives provisions or disclosure of information in breach of the Act.

“However, there is a history going back to the mid-1990s of judges expressing discontent in exceptional cases but being unable to impose jail sentences for especially blameworthy health and safety offences committed by individuals. Imprisonment is already widely available under regulatory legislation. These arrangements have worked well and without objection for many years.

“I have no reason to believe that imprisonment would be used more often for health and safety offences than for these other regulatory offences.”

It is the fifth time a Bill to raise the level of punishment for health and safety offences has been introduced to Parliament, but the first time such a Bill looks set to become law.


Published in sections: Health and Safety ::

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