|
Health & Safety Update - February 2009
Recent H&S legislation :
The Health and Safety Offences Act 2008 came into force on 16 January 2009. Employers will now need to ensure that they fully comply with health and safety legislation, as the Act imposes more severe punishments for health and safety breaches that could leave employers facing up to two years in prison or a large fine. In these tough economic times, this could be devastating for your business. The effect of the Act is to:
– raise the maximum fine that may be imposed in the lower courts to £20,000 for most health and safety offences (the maximum fine that can be imposed in the higher courts remains unlimited);
– give both the higher and lower courts the option to imprison employers for a greater number of offences;
– make certain offences, which previously could only be tried in the lower courts, triable in both the lower and higher courts.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Act doesn't impose any additional duties on businesses that already comply fully with health and safety legislation but it will expose those that don't take their health and safety responsibilities seriously (i.e. health and safety breaches are now being treated as seriously as other criminal offences).
Current HSE Agricultural Campaign :
‘Enough is enough’ - too many people are dying in needless accidents on British farms. Parents. Grandparents. Children. In the last ten years, 455 people went out in the morning and never came home. Figures published by the HSE in its annual report, 'Fatal injuries in farming, forestry and horticulture 2007/08', show that 42 people were killed as a result of farming and other agriculture related activities in 2007/08.
Make the promise – come home safe !
"We want everyone in rural areas and involved in farming to know about the campaign, talk about it and spread the message. Together we can reduce the no. of work related deaths." Judith Donovan, Non-executive HSE Board member and Agriculture Champion
For all the information you need to make and keep your promise - including a copy of ‘How lives are lost on British farms’ - please visit the website and complete the appropriate form today.
WHY TAKE THE ‘RISK’ ?
The no. of fatal injuries to workers in agricultural industries last year was 42 (a rate of about 9 per 100,000 workers - the highest rate out of all UK industries).
In the last 10 years, nearly 500 people (including 32 ‘children’ under 13) have been killed during agricultural work activities, that’s an average of 50 people in the industry each year
… almost ONE per week !!
… PLUS many more have been injured or have suffered from ill health.
The main causes of fatalities are :
Transport - 24%
Falls from height - 17%
Hit by moving/falling objects - 16%
Asphyxiation / drowning - 9%
Trapped by something - 8%
Contact with machinery - 8%
Livestock related - 8%
Contact with electricity - 6%
Some recent examples of fatalities :
‘ATVS’ - An employee died when the ATV he was driving overturned on a steep hill. His absence was not detected for 52 hours and once the search was initiated, his body was found some 200 yards away from the scene of the accident. The trustees of the estate were fined £3000 - as a ‘lone’ worker, there was no operating procedure in place to ensure his safety.
‘FALLS FROM HEIGHT’ - A farm worker was killed when the potato box in which he was working fell from the forks of a telescopic handler. The farmer was fined £18,000 plus costs - when using materials handlers with work platforms, you must ensure that both are suitable for the task and that operators are suitably trained.
‘CHILDREN’ - The father of a 12-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a tractor has been fined £1000 for letting his son drive the machine while underage - it is illegal for children under 13 to drive or ride on agricultural work equipment.
WHY BE ‘PROACTIVE’ ?
P MORAL REASONS
Your general ‘Duty of Care’ / sense of concern for other people (i.e. nobody wants to get hurt or injured at work).
P ECONOMIC FACTORS
Be aware of the actual costs involved with an accident (i.e. not just ‘direct costs’ such as fines / sick pay / compensation / claims excess BUT also ‘indirect costs’ such as replacement labour / increased premiums / bad publicity etc).
P LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
If you don’t comply, you are breaking the law (the ‘Health & Safety at Work Act 1974’ remains the basis of all current UK legislation).
In 2006/07, the HSE issued more enforcement notices (8099 - 550 in agricultural industries), plus prosecuted more offences (1141) and obtained more convictions (848), with the average penalty being £15,370 (excluding all large fines > £100k, the average was £8723).
(Source: HSE)
| All Rights Reserved 2007 |