Warning for Employees over stringent new workplace safety rules
Lawyers are warning that Careless workers and their bosses could be more likely to go to prison than muggers when new health and safety legislation comes in to force this week.
The introduction of the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008, which takes effect on Friday, means that serious breaches of health and safety rules previously punished with fines can now attract a custodial sentence of up to two years.
The wide-ranging powers also mean that an employee who has contributed to a health and safety offence could face a prison sentence even if no accident or injury occurred as a result of their actions.
The new laws, which passed through both Houses of Parliament largely unopposed, are designed to encourage businesses to pay closer attention to health and safety matters. Last year 229 people were killed at work in the UK, according to the British Safety Council, an independent watchdog.
Despite assurances from Keith Hill, the Labour MP for Streatham who proposed the bill, that custodial sentences would only be considered in the most serious “public outrage” cases the Act gives the courts wide discretion to mete out jail terms.
Lawyers at McGrigors, a UK law firm, warn that the courts will be under pressure to use their new powers to imprison staff – especially those in senior or supervisory roles.