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In February 2016, the H&S Executive released new Health & Safety Guidelines in respect to all workplaces throughout the UK. The guidelines were put in place due to concerns that penalties imposed for Health & Safety offences were previously set too low and sentencing was therefore frequently inconsistent.
These tougher penalties are mainly aimed at the large organisations that have ignored Health & Safety issues because their fines represent a small percentage of their annual turnover. Previously, instances of Health & Safety or Food Hygiene breaches or pre-emptive enforcement could have seen organisations fined anything from £100,000 to £500,000. However, now with the new guidelines, these companies could see fines up to £10m for larger organisations, £4m for medium sized organisations and £1.6m for SMEs.
Health & Safety legislation is rightly put in place to minimise risk, reduce accidents and save lives. Health & Safety is breached from an exposure to risk, not just the injury caused by an accident. As a result, these new guidelines are a timely reminder that all employees have a duty to abide by these requirements by ensuring that Health & Safety is treated as a paramount activity in their day to day work.
Here we have put together some tips on what you can do to avoid hefty fines in the workplace:
1) Make sure that all Health & Safety policies are up-to-date, relevant and are communicated effectively to employees. Ensure that the correct communication method is utilised, either by posters, team talks, newsletters or marketing campaigns, Health & Safety policies should be followed at all times and there should be an appropriate disciplinary process in place if this is not dealt with.
2) Ensure an effective risk assessment/risk management system is in place that records hazards and allow managers to ensure that appropriate precautions are taken wherever necessary.
3) When dealing with a number of different site locations, it is essential that there is a consistency of approach across all sites.
4) Ensure that all employees have received appropriate Health & Safety training
5) Support every single person in the organisation and make sure that they understand that everyone has a responsibility for Health & Safety. This applies to everyone from the top down. It affects each and every employee and everyone has a responsibility towards themselves, their colleagues and their employers. Health & Safety is not just the responsibility of directors, it is everybody’s responsibility and all employees need to work together to ensure that their workplace is safe.
