1. Occupational Health and Safety
Management: Getting it Right is
Easier Than You‟d Think
Andrew Ammerlaan
Health and Safety Manager
November 2011

2. What the seminar is about
By the end of the seminar you will have an
appreciation of:
Health and safety law in the UK, how it operates,
penalties and mitigations
What to do when things go wrong
Where to obtain information on occupational health
and safety
Guidance on good practice and to how achieve
high standards of occupational health and safety
compliance
What makes a good risk assessment (and what
doesn‟t)
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3. Why should we worry about health and safety in
our organisation?
 As part of your organisation‟s corporate social
responsibility (CSR) agenda you have a moral duty to
ensure the health, safety and welfare of your
employees
 An organisation with high standards of occupational
health and safety will tend to have more productive
staff who have fewer days absent due to illness and
will be better motivated
 It is a legal requirement for employers “… to
ensure…the health, safety and welfare at work of all
his employees” and not to do so is potentially a
criminal offence*
*extract from the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
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4. Revised penalties for work-related deaths
(all industry sectors)
 Average £28,867 in 2004-5
 Corporate Manslaughter:
“The appropriate fine will seldom be less than
£500,000 and may be measured in millions of
pounds”*
 Offence under HSWA involving a fatal injury:
“The appropriate fine will seldom be less than
£100,000 and may be measured in hundreds of
thousands of pounds” *
* Sentencing Guidelines Council Advice – February 2010
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5. Some recent case examples
 Forbo Nairn (manufacturer of linoleum) fined Limited
£500,000 following a fatal injury
 Marks and Spencer plc (retail) £1millon plus £600,000
costs for failing to manage removal of asbestos
 Buncefield oil storage depot £9.4 million including
costs (Total £6.2m, Hertfordshire Oil Storage Limited
£2.4m and British Pipeline Agency £780,000)
 Cotswold Geotechnical Limited fined £385,000
First successful prosecution under Corporate
Manslaughter Act
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6. An elephant in the sitting room?
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7. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
 The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO)
came into effect in October 2006 and replaced over
70 pieces of fire safety law
 Under the FSO, the Responsible person must carry
out a Fire Safety Risk Assessment and implement and
maintain a fire management plan
 Enforced by local fire and rescue organisations –
plenty of inspections being carried out! Prosecutions
can and will follow if you fail to act on their requests
for improvements
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8. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
 New Look‟s Oxford Street store fined £536,000
including costs following major fire incident in April
2007 for breaches of the FSO
 There were no major injuries!
 The breaches did not cause the fire!
 No Fire Safety Risk Assessment and no procedures!
 Hotel owner and fire risk assessor jailed for eight
months each for breaches of fire safety regulations
 Mr. David Lui, operator of The Dial Hotel and The
Market Inn in Mansfield, and fire assessor Mr. John
O'Rourke both admitted to contravening the FSO at
Nottingham's Crown Court and sentenced in July 2011
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9. Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Simple Ways to Improve fire safety:
 Draft fire risk assessment and review on a regular basis (at least yearly
or when circumstances change)
 Train your staff in fire safety, retain records of training and update on a
regular basis (at least yearly)
 Check electrics on periodic basis, i.e. hard wiring and appliances
(portable appliance testing)
 Make arson difficult, e.g. clear rubbish / flammable materials from site
boundaries, make premises secure when not in use
 Ban smoking – and enforce the ban!
 Ensure alarm is suitable and regularly tested and serviced
 Good standard of fire signage and emergency lighting
 Clear and unhindered access to fire exits
 Regular emergency drills – vary fire escape access each exercise
 Train staff on what to do – new starter induction process
 Regular fire safety inspections and reviews of risk assessment
 Talk to your insurers and local Fire and Rescue Service
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10. Anyone for porridge?
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11. Anyone for porridge?
Why worry, TalkTalk will pay any fines ?
 HSWA 1974, Section 37: Power to prosecute and fine
managers and directors for health and safety breaches as
well as companies
 Managers and directors can be sent to prison for up to 2
years for (almost) any health and safety breach from 16
January 2009
 Imprisonment was restricted to most serious cases e.g. gross
negligence manslaughter. Not any more!
 Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008: wide new powers for
prison terms up to 2 years and unlimited fines (Crown Court)
for full range of health and safety offences
 Even Magistrates‟ Courts will be able to imprison directors
and managers for 12 months (initially 6 months) or fine them
£20,000 for each offence
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12. Anyone for porridge?
 Prison terms have become more common even before
the 2008 Act: 10 individuals imprisoned 1996 to 2006
but 8 imprisoned in 2006/7 alone
 Individual prosecutions will be more, not less common
in light of Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 & Health
and Safety (Offences) Act 2008
 How would it feel to think that you could have
prevented a fatal or serious injury
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13. Anyone for porridge?
 What makes you personally liable for an offence?
 Ignorance is no defence: you are liable if you ought to
have identified a problem but did not, for any reason!
 A breach of statute or regulations and:
 Consent, connivance or attributable to any neglect
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14. Corporate Manslaughter: Why the new Act?
 Public outrage at unsuccessful corporate
manslaughter prosecutions following disasters:
Zeebrugge, Paddington, Hatfield
 Problem of identifying „directing mind‟
 Into force 6 April 2008
 First Prosecution now concluded - Cotswold
Geotechnical (Holdings) Limited
 Others Prosecutions to follow - Lion Steel Limited at
Manchester Crown Court June 2012
 Intended for larger organisations, the legislation is
being applied to SME employers as well and is being
coupled to individual prosecutions
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15. Will the organisation be found guilty? Elements
of the offence:
 A relevant duty of care owed (Judge decides);
 Breach from way activities managed or organised;
 Substantial element of breach due to senior
management‟s role;
 Gross breach of the duty (Jury decides);
 Breach caused the death(s)
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16. “Isn‟t all this just excessive red-tape from the
Health and Safety kill-joys who ban conkers and
pancake races?”
 More than 200 people are killed at work in the UK
every year (excludes work-related RTAs and
occupational disease)
 Construction work and work at height are responsible
for most fatal injuries
 In 2006, 30 million working days lost to workplace
injury at an estimated cost of £30bn
 Think about the „cost‟ to individuals, companies and
the economy, both financial and non-financial
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17. “It‟s usually the worker‟s fault so managers
cannot do much to help”
 Statistics emphatically demonstrate otherwise
 80% + of accidents attributable to acts or omissions
of people
 61% of accidents preventable by management action
 Further 18% preventable by worker action
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18. What to do when things go wrong
 With any major injury, immediately halt activity on site
and elsewhere within organisation: potentially avoids
Enforcement action by HSE/LA EHD
 Notify insurers: assistance available
 Preserve evidence
 Always investigate (fraudulent civil claims - 107,000
made in 2008 - ABI)
 Witness accounts and contact details should be taken
straight away
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19. Interviews
 Planning for and attending HSE, Police or Local
Authority interviews
 Carried out under caution (PACE 1984)
 Seek advice from your solicitor, who will accompany
you to the meeting
 Your health and safety advisor and/or person most
knowledgeable of the circumstances of accident
should also accompany you and give advice
 Decide in advance your strengths and weaknesses
 Interview will be recorded; check transcript for errors
and omissions!
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20. Aggravating factors: What to avoid
 R v Howe & Son [1999] 2 All ER 249 CA
 Putting profit before safety (a massive no no!)
 Failure to heed warnings (failure to learn)
 Falling far short of relevant standard
 Extent of danger resulting
 Death or serious injury resulting
 Prolonged or repeated breach
 Previous convictions/incidents
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21. Mitigating factors: Damage limitation
Reverse of aggravating factors, but also…
Co-operation with authorities
Remedial measures/ learning lessons
Good safety record
Absence of previous convictions etc
Prompt admission of responsibility and timely
guilty plea
Small size of company/resources is not
mitigation of culpability
Company size is relevant to the ability to pay,
but not in fatal injury or Corporate
Manslaughter convictions
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22. More damage limitation
 Some factors a Court will consider:
 Background to incident and level of „blameworthiness‟
 Health & Safety provision, policies and structure
 Training
 Help for injured employee/family: financial and other
 Position in community/industry
 Structure/activities of company and number of employees
 Resources and explanation of accounts
 Likely impact of fine/costs, subject to caveat in previous slide
 Remedial measures taken to the above
 Regret: if so, make it sincere
 Relevance of civil claim: admissions, rehabilitation, interim
payment
 Community/charity involvement
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23. “I cannot see benefits, just costs”
 Mid Wales Fire Service:
£100,000 reduction in insurance premiums
50% reduction in sickness absence and injuries
 British Sugar:
Trigger: 3 workplace deaths in one year
Result: Time lost to injuries down 43% (in 2 years);
63% reduction in major issues; greater understanding
by directors and managers of health and safety risks
and benefits
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24. “I cannot see benefits, just costs”
 Improved standing/lower costs for Company and the
sector
 Better reputation among colleagues, customers,
investors and wider community
 Increased productivity & competitiveness: employees
healthier, happier and better motivated
 Repeat business from customers
 Reduced employee absence/turnover, fewer
accidents and litigation
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25. Don‟t panic – help is at hand
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26. What can we do as directors and managers?
 Make occupational health and safety a top priority, at
all levels, be pro-active and the benefits will soon
appear
 Lead by example: teach others that occupation health
and safety is a benefit to all, not a cost
 Keep up to date: no dusty Health and Safety policies
and risk assessments. Wealth of general and industry
specific guidance available, and often free of charge
 Websites with useful information:
www.hse.gov.uk
www.iod.com
www.britsafe.org
www.businesslink.gov.uk
„Key Resources‟ section in „Leading HSW‟ guide
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27. Leading Health & Safety at Work
 HSE and IoD: written by directors for directors
 Practical, common sense occupation al health and
safety guidelines
 Key principles:
 Strong, visible and active leadership from the board and
managers; two-way communication; integration of good
health and safety management with business decisions;
 Worker involvement: employees must „buy into‟ the benefits,
have effective upward communication channels and be well
trained;
 Assessment and review: this is not box-ticking and form
filling! Risk assessments and procedures need to be followed,
monitored and reviewed.
This is not just good advice but a legal responsibility (Regs. 3
and 5 of Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999)
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28. Leading Health & Safety at Work
Guidance sets out a clear agenda:
 Plan the direction for health and safety
 Deliver a health and safety policy
 Monitor health and safety
 Review performance and policies
 Agenda consists of core actions (relate to legal
duties) and good practice guidelines (to give core
actions practical effect)
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29. Plan the direction for health and safety
 Board to set the direction; health and safety policy
more than just a document: it is an integral part of
organisation‟s culture, values and performance
standards
 Core actions - board and managers leading by
example (policy to set out role of Board and individual
members); make it specific to your activities and
identify „bad habits‟; be aware of risks faced; policy to
evolve over time e.g. organisational changes
 No „tick-box‟ mentality. Policies, work instructions and
training must be implemented. Communication is key
 Examples of good practice-keep on agenda for board
meetings; appoint local champions; health and safety
committees; set targets
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30. Deliver health and safety
 We work in the real world: risks should be dealt with
sensibly, responsibly but also proportionately
 Core actions - board to ensure health and safety
adequately resourced; obtain competent advice; risk
assessments carried out; involve employees; consider
implications of new processes, working practices or
personnel
 Good practice: amongst leaders (be seen on „shop
floor‟ following all safety measures and address
breaches immediately), support worker involvement,
assess health and safety arrangements of suppliers
and contractors (their performance could affect
yours); procurement standards; health and safety
committee; train members of board
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31. Monitor health and safety
 There should be pro-active routine auditing and
reporting and not just specific „incident-led‟ reactions
 No „blame-culture‟: focus employees on the
consequences of failure and benefits of compliance
 Focus on subcontractors too: do they comply? (and
any sub-subcontractors!)
 Core actions - look at progress of training and
maintenance programmes and at accident and
sickness absence rates; audits and risk controls; look
at impact of any changes; adapt to changes in law or
other changes
 Examples of good practice-monitor sickness absence
rates (underlying problems?); appraise senior
managers; board to receive regular reports on
performance; involve employees? Absolutely yes!
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32. Review performance and policies
 Regular review by managers and at board level is
essential. Look for trends
 Has leadership, worker involvement, assessment and
review been „embedded‟ in the company‟s culture?
 Is your system effective in managing risk and
protecting people?
 Does the policy reflect current priorities and plans?
 Have relevant risks/industry guidance and/or the law
changed?
 Action required to address weaknesses/system to
monitor implementation and further review
 Good practice - annual reports; extra shop floor
visits; celebrate successes
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33. Risk assessment is the key
 Risk assessments are the foundations to successful
occupational health and safety management
 What makes a good risk assessment :
 Is the date of the previous assessment or details of any
review available?
 Who drafted the risk assessment? if it is someone who no-
longer works for the organisation, a review is a good idea
 They must cover all significant hazards and their risks and not
simply the obvious; careful thought should be given to events
that might occur and their potential to cause harm
 The document should be suitable and sufficient in content
(one page for a low risk hazard and potentially more detailed
for a complex process )
 Training, equipment examinations, and any other relevant
factors should be recorded
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34. Risk assessment is the key
 What makes a good risk assessment (continued):
 Stated control measures must be demonstrably implemented
(record the actions taken and when)
 The risk assessment needs to consider employees, and
contractors on an equal basis
 The risk assessment approach should be systematic - use the
same format for all documents
 Where relevant, the assessments should lead to separate
documented safe systems of work, method statements, lifting
plans etc
 Affected employees (and others) must be informed of the
assessment findings and have the opportunity to comment
and raise issues of concern (record the discussions)
 Risk assessments should be relevant, working documents,
not stored in cupboards out of sight and mind
 The risk assessment must be carried out by a competent
person
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35. Thank you for attending
and listening
Any Questions?
Any Comments?
Or email Andrew Ammerlaan at
andrew.ammerlaan@talktalkplc.com
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