Companies 'could face larger fines for deaths'

Categories: General Health and Safety |


Companies 'could face larger fines for deaths' New recommendations from the Sentencing Guidelines Council could see companies threatened with larger and more harmful fines for safety offences relating to workplace death.

The body, in tandem with the Sentencing Advisory Panel, has proposed stringent new laws which would see companies fined a percentage of their turnover rather than their profit in cases of corporate manslaughter or fatalities caused by breaches of health and safety law.

These new proposals come after the regulators stated in their joint annual report that addressing the calculation of fines for companies was a "fundamental issue".

Nick McMahon, partner at London law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, warned companies via the Safety and Health Practitioner that they could face a "substantial increase" in fines if convicted, which would be particularly damaging in the current climate.

The implementation of the new proposals would make such existing laws as the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations of 1992 increasingly important, as the use of appropriate workwear such as safety helmets can play a key role in preventing fatalities.ADNFCR-1200-ID-19259772-ADNFCR

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