I cannot remember a summer like this one since the heady days of 1969. Although only a child back then I can still recall racing home from school every September afternoon to enjoy the everlasting sunshine among the dams and dens by the old railway line at Potto Beck. Even the old First World War veteran, Mr Allyman, who lived at the bottom of the village said he had never known weather like it as neither had I until these last few weeks where the whole country has been sweltering with the warmest September day since 1911 recorded at 34.4C (93.9F) in Gravesend, Kent. The Mediterranean weather even extended to the firm’s 140th party at Rudby Hall last week where, in those beautiful grounds, we celebrated in shirtsleeve order under a fabulous golden sunset. Alas, all things come to an end and with cloud and rain looking set to continue until October, it seems that Jane, for whom I’m standing in to cover this week’s blog, has timed her holiday in Portugal to perfection.
On Wednesday 21st Jacksons presented a seminar at Ramside Hall for delegates working in the Health and Safety profession. While my colleague Mark Stouph focussed on the construction side of the industry, I concentrated on recent changes in court sentencing and the end of lenient fines that had been previously imposed for breaches of health and safety law. It seems to me that legislation and the way courts interpret it constantly strive – with mixed success – to keep pace with public opinion. In some cases – such as same sex relationships and recreational drugs – the law has relaxed as the establishment has less of an appetite to tell people how to conduct themselves in their personal lives. In other areas, however, the law is hardening and there is no better example of this than the courts’ revised approach to health and safety offences.
Let me give you an example of this. When the Forth Rail Bridge was opened on 4th March 1890 by the future Edward VII it was to such huge acclaim that the 78 workers who died, and the hundreds seriously injured during its construction, were almost a footnote. Health and Safety had vastly improved by the time the time the Forth Road Bridge was built in 1964 but even so a further seven workmen died during its assembly, which today would be an intolerable price to pay no matter how iconic the structure.
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 came about partly because of the perception that many industries were putting profit before safety and it was considered that if all employers had a statutory duty to ensure the safety and welfare of their employees, the UK workforce as a whole would benefit. It is now 42 years since HSAWA but the legislation remains an inspiration for workers’ rights with its bite (which was always sharp) immeasurably enhanced not only by new guidelines issued by the sentencing council in February 2016, but also the courts’ interpretation of those guidelines. In a drive for consistency and to reflect public concern that businesses are perceived to be getting away too lightly, a structured framework of penalties has now been introduced taking into account the size of the organisation, the risk involved, the level of harm and the offender culpability. The end result is that future fines will be proportionate to the seriousness of offence and the means of the offenders with the Court of Appeal leaving the profession in no doubt that businesses must bring about the reforms and improvements for which they say they are striving “…because if they do not the sentences passed upon them will be sufficiently severe to have a significant impact on their finances.”
The message could not be clearer. The tariff for regulatory offences has now massively increased and the £4m penalty imposed a few days ago on Network Rail (death on crossing) together with the eye watering fine about to be given to Merlin Attractions (Alton Towers collision-expected to be in the region of £6m) merely confirm, if indeed confirmation was needed, that for organisations in breach of health and safety legislation, the Indian Summer in the Crown Courts is well and truly over.
Author – Simon Catterall, Partner and Head of Regulatory
