Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Enforcement
The Offences and Penalties Report is an annual report on the enforcement action taken by HSE in the last year. It presents key statistics and links to the full enforcement database which shows the names of all those who have been served with an enforcement notice, or convicted of a health and safety offence. We know that businesses, insurers, the legal profession, trade unions, journalists and others make use of this information; we also know that by making these details public, we help to keep up the pressure for improvement in health and safety standards. However, as the information contained in this report only covers HSE’s formal enforcement activities, we are considering how best to change the format and coverage of the report so that next year we can include local authorities’ enforcement data too.
Our approach ensures we are:
The Health and Safety Commission’s (HSC’s) Enforcement policy statement [PDF 89KB] explains the general principles and approach which HSC expects enforcing authorities (mainly HSE and local authorities) to follow.
This report covers all the workplaces and activities where HSE is the enforcing authority, for example factories, farms, offshore gas and oil installations, nuclear installations, mines, schools and hospitals. The report does not cover workplaces where local authorities have enforcement responsibility – for example most offices, warehouses, shops and consumer services.
Our evidence confirms that enforcement is an effective motivator and deterrent. It plays an important role in securing compliance as well as promoting self-compliance.
The generic term for a person or organisation with responsibilities under health and safety law is dutyholder. Dutyholders include employers, self-employed people, contractors and employees.
There are a wide range of tools and techniques available to our inspectors to ensure that duty holders comply with health and safety law. These tools and techniques include advice, improvement notices, prohibition notices and prosecution.
We don’t take enforcement action lightly. Visits from our inspectors give duty holders the opportunity to get expert advice face to face. A proportionate approach is taken to any breaches, so in less serious cases, the inspector will explain how the dutyholder is not complying with the law and advise them how to put the problem right. The inspector will explain legal requirements and good practice, as well as confirming the advice in writing if asked. However, failure to follow the advice from our inspectors is often taken into account by courts if that failure results in harm.
Where the breach of the law is more serious, the inspector may serve a notice on the dutyholder. The inspector can serve:
Prohibition notices can take two forms:
When an inspector issues a notice, it is an opportunity for the dutyholder to put things right and prevent future incidents. If the dutyholder fails to comply with the notice, prosecution is likely to follow.
Under the terms of the Work-related death protocol, following a work-related death the police will take the lead in a joint investigation with HSE or the local authority to see whether the circumstances suggest the possibility of a manslaughter charge (in Scotland, culpable homicide). If the police decide not to pursue a manslaughter or culpable homicide charge, HSE or the local authority will take over and investigate under health and safety law.
In England and Wales, inspectors’ decisions on whether to prosecute for any health and safety offence also take account of the Code for Crown Prosecutors, which requires that:
More information on prosecutions in England, Scotland and Wales can be found in the Enforcement policy statement [PDF 89KB]
In Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal decides whether to bring a prosecution.
Following a successful prosecution, the courts will decide what penalty to impose. HSE believes that the current general level of fines does not properly reflect the seriousness of health and safety offences. However, it is up to the courts to decide appropriate fines. In England and Wales (though not in Scotland), the courts may also order the defendant to pay the prosecution costs.
As well as imposing fines, the courts can imprison offenders. Five people have been sent to prison for health and safety offences since January 1996. Of course, if convicted of manslaughter or culpable homicide, offenders are likely to receive a prison sentence.
More detail on the maximum penalties for health and safety offences can be found at the back of the HSE Enforcement policy statement [PDF 89KB].
We also believe that many of the maximum penalties available for health and safety offences are too low – as the courts have themselves said on occasion. The Government supports our view and is committed to increasing many of the maximum fines available to the lower courts as well as making imprisonment more widely available for both lower and higher courts.
The proposed Corporate Manslaughter Bill, which may be introduced into Parliament in early 2006, offers the prospect of a new statutory offence which would be available in the event of particularly serious safety management failures resulting in death. We welcome this proposal, which would be an important addition to the range of enforcement options in such cases and add to their overall deterrent effect.