The New Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2009

From January 2009, employers and other dutyholders who breach health and safety laws face the prospect of tough new penalties, including higher fines and the possibility of imprisonment for a wider range of offences.

Under the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008, which started life as a Private Member's Bill introduced by MP Keith Hill, magistrates will be able to impose higher fines for regulatory breaches, and in both the magistrates' and crown courts individual imprisonment will be an option for more offences.

According to Lord Grocott, who shepherded the Bill through the Lords, the changes are designed to "punish the criminally negligent who put life and limb in danger in the workplace, to deter those who are tempted to cut costs by breaking the health and safety law, and to render faster and more efficient justice".

"I believe they will do the job," Keith Hill told HSW.

The Act, which comes into force in Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 16 January 2009, amends Secton 22 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSW Act) to:

• raise the maximum fine available in the lower (magistrates') courts for regulatory offences
• make imprisonment an option for more health and safety offences in both the lower and higher courts
• make two offences currently triable only in the lower courts - contravening any requirement imposed by an inspector and preventing a person from appearing before an inspector or from answering their questions - triable in the higher courts as well.

[Extract from "Shades of the Prison House", Health and Safety at Work, January 2009]