04/09/2019
The case for putting senior managers in the dock
By Mike Appleby
Published Friday, August 30, 2019
In April this year, the Sentencing Council, which produces advice on sentencing for courts in England and Wales, published an impact assessment reviewing new guidelines for health and safety offences that took effect in February 2016. It reported that since 2011 the number of individuals prosecuted for health and safety offences has steadily increased and that in 2017 more than a quarter of those convicted received an immediate or suspended prison sentence.
While the assessment does not identify the proportion of these individuals who had management roles, it is known that the focus has shifted away from frontline employees. In the year to 31 March 2016, three times as many directors and managers were prosecuted as had been in the previous year.
One case that concluded in 2018 provides a good example of this change of emphasis:
To read the full article please click on link below:
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2019/08/comment-the-case-for-putting-senior-managers-in-the-dock/
Mike Appleby is a partner at Fisher Scoggins Waters LLP and co-author of ‘HSE and Environment Agency Prosecution: The New Climate’ published by Bloomsbury Professional. He will be a speaker at the IET’s Electrical Safety Management Course taking place in London on 30-31 October 2019.
Fisher Scoggins Waters are a London based law firm who specialise in construction, manufacturing and engineering matters. If you have recently had a health and safety incident occur in your workplace and require legal advice, please phone us on 0207 993 6960.