LTB 458/7 – HSE Annual Report 2016-20117 – Health and Safety Crime Fines Rise Substantially, Improvement Notices Rise, But Number of Prosecutions falls
No. 458/2017
21 August 2017
Our Ref: EX5/17
HSE Annual Report 2016-2017 – Health and Safety Crime Fines Rise Substantially, Improvement Notices Rise, But Number of Prosecutions falls:
To: All Branches
Dear Colleagues,
HSE Annual Report 2016-2017
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have published their 2016-17 Annual Report and Accounts. The Health and Safety Executive publishes an Annual Report on the performance of its functions, as required by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. It shows how the organisation has performed against published work plans so that stakeholders can see how they are delivering. It also includes a section on the HSE Accounts.
The report shows that the size of fines for health and safety offences is going up, but fewer cases are being prosecuted and taken to court.
Between February 2016 and February 2017, the total value of fines imposed on businesses for health and safety offences was £73.2 million. That was up from £35.4 million for the previous 12 months. This is more than double the previous total and is mainly down to new tougher sentencing guidelines issued to the Courts by the Sentencing Council that came into effect in February last year.
Whilst the size of fines has substantially increased which is welcomed, far less prosecution cases are being taken to court by the HSE. According to the Report, the number of prosecutions mounted by the HSE fell sharply last year. In 2015–16, the HSE instituted 696 cases, 95% of which resulted in a conviction for at least one offence. In 2016–17, however, provisional figures show that this fell to 547, a decline of 21%.
On the other hand, the HSE served substantially more enforcement, Improvement Notices than in recent years. In 2016-17, there were 6,700 Improvement Notices issued, compared to 5,700 issued in 2015-16 and there were 6,270 issued in 2014-15. Interestingly around a third of these Improvement Notices related to health cases rather than safety, which is a very welcome trend.
Trade Unions welcome the prosecution of health and safety offenders and criminals, however the priority is to prevent accidents and injuries happening in the first place and the concern is the HSE’s lack of resources to undertake inspections and prevention. Prosecutions are very time consuming and resource intensive and the Trade Unions want more HSE and Local Authority Inspectors employed, doing their job preventing things happening as well as spending huge amounts of time preparing for court cases.
On the other hand it is clear that, for many employers, the threat of a prosecution and subsequent huge fines and prison is the only thing that keeps them from totally ignoring their health and safety responsibilities all together so the CWU, TUC and all Unions’ view is that we need strong enforcement action as a deterrent.
Whilst the big increase in fines and increase in Enforcement Notices is welcome, the problem the HSE continues to face through the Tory government’s funding cuts and Tory government’s instructions to the HSE to take a ‘light-touch’ approach is that the HSE no longer does pro- active inspections of most workplaces and so the chances of actually being prosecuted are virtually nil unless there has been an accident and serious injury or dangerous occurrence, which means that employers are less likely to report things. It also means that employers are not being prosecuted for serious failings before someone gets injured, only after an injury has taken place.
It is also true that most long term illness is a result of stress or musculoskeletal disorders and they are the ones least likely to be reported to the HSE and also occur in the sectors that are least likely to be visited by a HSE or Local Authority Inspector.
This is why Trade Union Health and Safety Representatives are so important. Not only do Safety Reps keep the workplace safer but they can make sure that, whenever an injury or illness leading to more than seven days off work does occur, it is reported correctly to the HSE under RIDDOR, and that less severe injuries are recorded in the accident book.
Fatalities and Manslaughter Prosecutions – Manslaughter Sentencing Council Consultation
The one area that prosecutions are more likely to take place is after a fatality. Again the priority must be in prevention, but a prosecution of the employer sends an important message and can help give a sense of justice to the family of the victim.
Yet workplace killings are treated differently than other killings. There are several kinds of manslaughter. Corporate manslaughter is brought against companies or organisations, but individuals can be prosecuted for voluntary, unlawful, involuntary or gross negligence manslaughter. Health and Safety prosecutions are almost always brought under the “manslaughter by gross negligence” category, but the penalties on conviction for this type of offence are, on average, less than half that of the other types of manslaughter, with an average of four years in prison against 8-10 for the others. For Health and Safety offences the sentence is often even a suspended prison sentence.
Hopefully all that is going to change. The government body that recommends sentencing to the courts, the Sentencing Council has issued a Public Consultation that proposes bringing the penalties for health and safety manslaughter in line with all the others which is long overdue. The CWU, TUC and other Trade Unions will be responding to the consultation welcoming it.
[Manslaughter Sentencing Guideline Consultation. Published by the Sentencing Council on 4 July 2017. The consultation will end on 10 October 2017. This includes Gross Negligence Manslaughter relevant to at work deaths where employers completely disregard the safety of employees.
Link: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/Manslaughter_consultation_paper_Final-Web.pdf]
HSE’s Business Plan for 2016/17 – HSE’s funding will be cut £100m over ten years
Earlier this year, in April, the HSE’s Business Plan for 2016/17 was published (copy attached) and this shows that the funding the Health and Safety Executive receives from central government will be over £100 million less in 2019/20 than it was in 2009/10, bringing the total reduction since 2009/10 to 46%.
The plan, which sets out the HSE’s objectives for the coming year and details the money the HSE receives from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is set to decrease each year throughout the current parliament. In 2019/20, the executive will receive £123.4 million, compared to the £231 million it received in 2009/10.
The report shows that in the current year, 2016/17, the HSE’s budget will be £141 million while income generated will stand at £94 million, including money from fees and licensing, including Fee for Intervention (FFI).
The business plan says: “In responding to this financial challenge, the HSE will seek to maintain current levels of its core regulatory activities including permissioning, inspection, investigation and enforcement.”
One way in which the HSE aims to make a “significant contribution” to government plans to reduce the cost of regulatory compliance by £10 billion by the end of the parliament, is by making simplifications to regulations governing the use of chemicals, namely the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, the Control of Lead at Work Regulations and the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations.
The Business plan also outlines what the HSE aims to deliver in 2016/17. It says that HSE is committed to:
- leading and engaging those who undertake or influence health and safety. Through guidance, raising awareness and leadership we will seek to change behaviour;
- ensuring the regulatory framework remains effective and that we are delivering the government’s regulatory reform agenda and Business Improvement Target;
- securing effective risk management and control through a variety of interventions with businesses. This includes permissioning and licensing activities, inspections, investigations of incidents and concerns raised by workers and others. It also means holding to account those who fail to meet their obligations to protect people from harm; and reducing the likelihood of low-frequency, high-impact catastrophic incidents and the potential for extensive harm to workers and the public.
The HSE says its priorities for 2016/17 include work-related ill-health, communications with SMEs, refreshing and publishing its sector strategies and identifying and actively engaging with significant initiatives linking to the themes of ‘Helping Great Britain Work Well’ that are led by others.
The report also says that a priority for the coming year is developing a revised approach to creating and publishing guidance, ensuring it is proportionate, meets the needs of users and makes best use of digital channels.
Attachments:
HSE Annual Report 2016/17 HSE Business Plan 2016/17
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer