| Increase in health and safety fines welcomed |
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| Wednesday, 20 February 2008 | |
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A new bill which aims to raise the penalties for health and safety offences has been welcomed by law firm DWF. The firm defends many companies accused of breaching the rules. The Health and Safety (Offences) Bill, which has received a second unopposed reading in the House of Commons, would effectively raise the maximum fine magistrates’ courts could impose for 'regulatory' offences from £5,000 to £20,000. Currently magistrates can impose a maximum £20,000 fine for breaches of the ‘general duties’ under the Health and Safety at Work Act. For ‘regulatory' breaches this is reduced to £5,000, even though the failures in the case may be just the same. The bill is being proposed by MP Keith Hill, who believes it will provide ‘tougher, more commensurate punishment’. Steffan Groch, partner at DWF, said that fines for health and safety offences were potentially unlimited. He explained that magistrates must commit the case to a Crown Court if they feel that the circumstances of a case warrant a larger penalty than they can impose. There is no cap on the level of penalties which a Crown Court can set for a health and safety offence. “For that reason, the Bill will not have the effect of raising fines. It will simply mean that more cases will be retained by the Magistrates, rather than being committed to a Crown Court,” Groch added. He said that keeping more cases in the magistrates’ court would keep down costs for defendants and lead to a swifter resolution. “When a case goes to a Crown Court, costs increase as a barrister must generally be instructed and the proceedings will take longer - at least a further two to three months, even on a simple case,” Groch concluded. Related articles
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