Health & Safety Sentencing
The Sentencing Guidelines Council have published detailed guidelines for Judges when sentencing companies for deaths arising from Health and Safety Breaches and Corporate Manslaughter.
The new rules come into effect from today and will therefore effectively apply retrospectively to cases already being prosecuted in the criminal courts. Factors affecting the size of fines include forseeability of death or serious injury, the safety record of the organisation and failures in heeding warnings or taking health and safety advice.
The new guidelines envisage that fines should "..seldom be less than £500,000 and may be measured in millions of pounds." Defendant companies will also normally pay the prosecution's costs and will be subjected to ‘publicity orders' which may additionally cost businesses millions in lost orders and loss of goodwill. Finally, the courts have power to make remedial orders to ensure that such incidents do not re-occur (if such measures have not been put in place before the hearing in any event).
It is also clear that the financial resources of the organisation in question will only be taken into account in limited circumstances and it will not necessarily be a mitigating factor that the organisation will become insolvent as a result of the imposition of the fine.
For more information on the guidelines and for advice on Health and Safety law generally call Jon Dunkley on 01271 341000 or e-mail him at jon.dunkley@tollerbeattie.co.uk.
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