Construction boss jailed

Construction safety fines soar following legislation change

Companies across the UK have been forced to pay out over £61m in health and safety fines throughout 2016 with the construction sector seeing fines double according to law firm BLM’s health and safety tracker.

Research conducted by the insurance and risk law firm found that fines for the construction industry jumped from £6,644,807 in 2015 to £13,636,346 in 2016 – a hike of £6,991,539.

This follows a change in legislation made in February 2016, with new guidelines imposed for health and safety, food hygiene and corporate manslaughter offences. The court now considers culpability, seriousness and likelihood of harm and the size of a business and its turnover when imposing fines.

Fines for businesses with a turnover in excess of £50m can now reach up to £10m for health and safety offences, and corporate manslaughter fines could be as much as £20m. This new system has been implemented to improve the standards of compliance with health and safety legislation for larger organisations by imposing fines proportionate to the size of the business, rather than using a universal figure for all offences.

The introduction of the risk of harm means that near misses will be reviewed and subject to potential prosecution so this has been a game-changing 12 months for the industry

Helen Devery, partner and head of health and safety at insurance and risk law firm BLM, said: “The new sentencing guidelines send a strong message to all businesses big or small: it is people and business critical to ensure that safety processes and systems are a board level priority. The introduction of the risk of harm means that near misses will be reviewed and subject to potential prosecution so this has been a game-changing 12 months for the industry.”

BLM’s figures reveal that the construction sector was the most costly, racking up a bill of almost £14m. This was followed by manufacturing (£12m), Utilities (£8.4m), Leisure (£7.4m), Logistics and transport (£7.2m), Industrials (£3.9m) and Public Sector (£2.6m).

Helen Devery finished: “Robust and proactive audit processes which interrogate and improve systems will be seen as best practice and at the heart of this is a commitment to effective risk assessment and training across all parts of the business.”

About Dylan Garton

Dylan Garton is a co-founder, video producer and editor for the Skill Builder social media platforms.

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