New sentencing guidelines likely after New Look appeal case
Cast your minds back to one of our previous editions of Hi Viz (Volume 10, Issue 23) when we featured the case in which New Look had been handed a record fine of £400k for breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Well, it now looks like the Court of Appeal is likely to issue guidelines on sentencing following an appeal by the retailer. The case was heard on 11th May but judgment was reserved and is likely this week.
This will come as a relief to many of our contacts and ourselves at BSA welcome the move. Over the past number of years we have been amazed with the levels of punitive action taken by the enforcement authorities for relatively low risk breaches.
We have been party to a number of instances where our contacts have experienced bad practice when dealing with fire officers. Over the period we have also tracked the penalties for breaches in certain cases, where there is a justifiable argument that the penalties are out of kilter with fines in other areas of health and safety.
From when the Regulation was introduced, BSA have believed that there is a huge problem of consistency of fire safety enforcement across England and Wales and a very real lack of guidance for fire and rescue authorities.
Fire authorities have been accused (some would say correctly) of handing out prohibition notices 'like sweets'. But can they be blamed so readily? We should not forget that fire officers were not really given any additional training, certainly no additional guidance, and definitely no additional support for the changes the law brought in.
What happens next? We'll await the courts ruling and no doubt we will keep you informed. But for your part, stick to the rules and seek help from BSA if you need it!
Chiefs at BSA, not Cowboys
In a very welcome move, the HSE, in their new strategy document, have outlined proposals for the better regulation of the Health and Safety profession. This call has also one support from within our new coalition government at Westminster and industry leaders.
BSA strongly support this move. Why? .....Well, for many years we have watched in horror as any jack the lad (or girl) could, with little practical knowledge, call themselves a 'health and safety professional'. We believe that this has led directly to clients being given incorrect advice, over charging for little service, bonkers conkers stories and unforgivably, peoples lives being put into danger.
We pride ourselves on the qualifications our consultants have. But more than that, each one has a wealth of experience gleaned from a range of industry sectors over many years. We use this daily to give you the most up to date and practical advice and long may that continue!
Sit Up and Take Notice
The number and frequency of HSE inspection 'blitzes' seem to be increasing, which is in line with the HSE's stated aim of targeting more small scale construction sites and contractors. With the increase in site visits you might expect the numbers of improvement and prohibition notices to increase? Or should that be falling, given that we all know about site health and safety management!
BSA have noticed that the number of notices being issued are definitely rising. Is this because the HSE are taking a harder line? or is it because the standard of sites is decreasing?The idea of enforcement notices was introduced in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 - Improvement Notices under s21 and Prohibition Notices under s22. At that time it was anticipated that the former would be used most commonly, however, recent statistics published by the HSE appear to show it uses Prohibition Notices in roughly 40 per cent of cases. In 2008/09, the HSE issued 4816 Improvement Notices and 3238 Prohibition Notices. A total of 14,427 enforcement notices overall was served in that period by the HSE, Local Authorities and the Office of Rail Regulation.
If any of you would like some more guidance on the notices and how they could effect your business give us a call.
SWMP surprise at BSA Seminar in Brentford
We held the latest seminar in the series on Tuesday 18th May. The event proved to be a great success and our thanks go out to all you who attended. We covered a number of subjects on the night including, the HSE's plans for the future, new developments, current cases and site waste management plans. To our surprise, the subject found most useful was the presentation on site waste management plans (SWMPs). So we will include this in the September seminar in Guildford so see http://www.bernardsimsassociates.com/page/events for details.
If you are curious about these new regulations go to http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080314_en_1#l1g15 and just count the times it says 'guilty of an offence' and 'Fine not exceeding £50,000'.
