Higher health and safety fines: how to avoid a penalty

Higher health and safety fines: how to avoid a penalty

From 1st February 2016, courts will have new powers to impose higher fines on organisations that breach health and safety legislation. The change is in response to a perception that penalties were previously too low. The new guidelines apply to all health and safety and corporate manslaughter cases.

The level of fines for health and safety offences depend on the size of the offending organisation:

  • Up to £10 million for large organisations (£50 million+ turnover)
  • Up to £4 million for medium-sized organisations (£10-£50 million turnover)
  • Up to £1.6 million for small businesses (£2-£10 million turnover)
  • Up to £450,000 for micro-businesses (£2 million or less)

The level of fine applicable depends on two factors: the level of harm caused and the degree of culpability. Culpability ranges from low, in which the offender is regarded as having met their health and safety obligations, to very high, in which there has been a deliberate breach of the law, or a flagrant disregard.

These higher penalties are a good reminder that health and safety should not simply be a box-ticking exercise, and that doing the bare minimum in this respect could have dire consequences. Taking health and safety seriously is clearly a sensible approach to keeping employees safe, but it also provides evidence that may help to reduce the level of culpability in the event of an accident.

Now is a good time to check that your health and safety policies are up to date, in compliance with all relevant legislation and applicable to all of your business activities. For example, have you introduced any new services or products that involve new working practices? Are these processes covered by your policies? Are your risk assessments up to date? Do you have any new machines, tools or vehicles that are not covered by risk assessments? Has equipment been inspected and tested recently? Are your new joiners made aware of your health and safety policies – and given all the training they need to stay safe?

Test your own health and safety policies

One way to evaluate your own health and safety setup is to imagine that someone has been injured at work and you are having to answer a magistrate’s questions. Firstly, consider what sort of accident might occur. What could your organisation have done differently to mitigate the risk? What would interest – or concern – the magistrate? Where do the gaps in your safety systems exist? What aspects of your activities would you have difficulty in explaining?

If you consider these questions you may quickly find that you have areas of concern, or risks that are not being addressed. And as magistrates now have the power to levy crippling fines, the time to address these concerns is now.

About VinciWorks

Our eLearning courses are available either as off-the-shelf packages, or can be customised to suit the needs of your business. With our eLearning packages you can easily provide the mandatory health and safety training that your employees need, and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with the audit trail of course completions.

Our health and safety eLearning courses include:

  • Risk Assessment
  • Manager’s Overview of Health and Safety
  • Slips and Trips
  • Manual Handling

Are you safeguarding the health and safety of your home workers?

Are you safeguarding the health and safety of your home workers?

Home working is becoming more and more popular, as technology makes it more feasible and more employers become convinced of the benefits of flexible working. Many employers find that allowing home working can increase employee retention, widen the pool of potential applicants (particularly among those with physical disabilities), and provide financial benefits by allowing companies to operate from small or remote premises.

Many employers report improved performance from home workers. Not only are they free from a commute and the distractions of an office, they are often motivated to improve their productivity. According to a study conducted by the University of Illinois, “telecommuters want to be seen as ‘good citizens’ of the company in order to justify their flexible work arrangements.”

However, it is essential to keep in mind that you are responsible for the health, safety and welfare of your home workers, even though they are not working from your premises. You have an obligation to carry out a Health & Safety Risk Assessment on the home worker’s premises, and to ensure that any requirements of your Employers’ Liability Insurance are met.

Employers must also:

  • ensure that the equipment the home worker uses is fit for purpose
  • test, certify and maintain any electrical equipment you provide (such as a company laptop)
  • ensure that lighting levels and computer glare are at appropriate levels – and don’t forget that home workers are also entitled to an eye test paid for by their employer
  • reduce the risk of trips and falls by ensuring home workers tidy away loose cables
  • provide adequate training to allow the employee to work safely
  • create an emergency plan so that the alarm can be raised and medical attention sought without delay
  • maintain appropriate records of serious accidents, illness or injuries.

It is also important to properly assess potential home workers to ensure that they don’t have a medical condition that would make it unsafe for them to work alone, and that they aren’t assigned tasks that should not be undertaken unaccompanied.

You can find more information on your health and safety obligations for homeworkers at the Health and Safety Executive (Homeworkers).

Could you reduce long-term sickness absence with return to work interviews?

Long-term sickness absence represents more than just misery for an employee. Unexpected absences can disrupt projects, create backlogs of work and compound the pressure on other staff.

It’s hardly surprising that a recent report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) estimates the cost of long-term sickness absence (6 months or more) at £4.17 billion.

The report also estimates that early intervention – and the offer of support – can reduce the length of long-term absences by 17 per cent.

So how can your business support employees and reduce the impact of sickness absence?

In some cases, managers may be able to help employees manage health issues so that they can stay in work. A cooperative attitude – rather than an adversarial atmosphere – can encourage employees to seek solutions that benefit all parties.

Return to work interviews

Managers should be trained to conduct effective return to work interviews following any period of sickness absence. These conversations are not intended to penalise or intimidate employees, but should provide an opportunity to discuss the employee’s health issues.

Managers should assume that the employee was legitimately ill, but use the interview as an opportunity to learn more about the reasons for the absence.

Prevent presenteeism

By being politely and reasonably inquisitive about an employee’s health, managers can discover the causes of the absence, and ascertain whether the employee is truly well again.

During a return to work interview it may become apparent that an employee is still unwell. In such cases it may be prudent to encourage the employee to remain off work until they have fully recovered.

Train your managers to deal with sickness absences

Give your managers the skills to handle both long- and short-term sickness absences so that small issues do not escalate into big problems.

Do your employees appreciate the value of safe working?

Which are the most dangerous jobs in the UK?

According to a new survey by Confused.com, just over 50% of all workplace injuries occur in the construction and agricultural industries.

However, in between those two is an industry more likely to surprise people: services.

From bankers to beauticians, those in the service industry reported surprisingly high levels of workplace injuries, which ought to get businesses thinking about how they manage their health and safety risks.

One in four British workers have been injured at some point in the course of their work. So, how does this happen, and what can you do to prevent it?

Workplace injuries

The most common workplace injuries are cuts, followed by sprains and burns, and one in ten of those surveyed suffered broken bones.

This appears to be quite a varied injury list, but it’s striking when the most common cause of injuries is revealed: tripping over equipment or walking into something.

In other words, the kinds of hazards that are present even in very ordinary working environments, emphasising the importance of keeping floors clean, removing hazards, signposting spills, and ensuring employees are properly trained to use and put away equipment.

Health and safety

Despite these statistics, the good news is that workplace accidents are on the decline, having almost halved over the past two decades.

Health and safety regulations, something the UK is (in)famous for, have an ambiguous reputation but have contributed to the UK having one of the best safety records in Europe.

Yet there is still room for improvement. The more health and safety regulations are followed and enforced, the better the results will be.

One of the most valuable things managers and HR executives can do to support this is make sure employees not only know the regulations, but also appreciate their value.

How to increase employee wellbeing with eLearning

The words ‘health and safety’ often conjure up images of things like safety shoes, black and yellow tape on steps, and hi-vis jackets – the kinds of equipment we use to prevent accidents and injuries, and keep people safe.

But what about the ‘health’ half of the phrase, which is equally important?

Businesses tend to have a good idea of what goes into creating environments that encourage safety, but looking out for employees’ mental health and welfare is a different challenge altogether.

Employee wellbeing

National Stress Awareness Day is Wednesday 4th November, and this year’s theme is “Employee wellbeing as a worthwhile investment in your business.”

Last year, stress accounted for 35% of work-related ill health cases, amounting to a total of 9.9 million lost days, so it’s clear that potentially huge productivity increases are possible by reducing workplace stress.

Stress is caused when individuals don’t feel able to cope with what is demanded of them, and many factors can contribute towards stress at work including worries about redundancy and relationship conflicts between colleagues.

As well as being a cause of numerous illnesses leading to absence, stress causes people to be more prone to errors, fatigued, unhappy and overall unproductive.

Helping employees manage their own stress

Being able to recognise that they are stressed is the first step an employee can take towards managing stress and reducing its negative effects, leading to better business results.

Helping managers to create harmonious workplaces

As well as training individual employees to identify and manage their own stress, businesses should ensure their management staff are supporting a stress-free environment and have a thorough understanding of how to manage stress issues in teams.

To support this need, we also provide a course on Managing Stress in Your Team, which shows managers how to manage effectively without causing stress and identify possible sources of stress within teams long before they cause a serious issue.

Six advantages of using eLearning for fire safety training

All businesses have a responsibility for fire safety including carrying out risk assessments, communicating risks to staff, putting in place appropriate safety measures, and delivering fire safety training.

The latter need in particular is frequently the cause of headaches for those designated as the ‘responsible person’ for fire safety, especially when required to deliver the training themselves, face to face.

It means that whenever a new person is hired, the responsible person has to take time out of their day to put together training materials and deliver training, as well deal with the necessary admin, which magnifies as a problem the bigger an organisation becomes.

eLearning benefits

While it’s true that face to face training has some unique benefits, eLearning is just as effective at reducing fire risk, as well as meeting your legal requirements around fire safety.

There are also several benefits for fire safety training only made possible with eLearning:

1. Training on demand

The online nature of eLearning means learners can be enrolled onto eLearning courses instantly and taking training within seconds.

This makes eLearning the most effective way to ensure new hires receive their mandatory fire safety training at the earliest opportunity, and more experienced members of staff can receive necessary refresher training whenever required.

2. Learners can train at any time, in any location

eLearning is the only training model where time and location are immaterial.

Courses are delivered online, so all learners require is a device with access to the Internet – no need to book an available face to face trainer and training room, or even for training to take place in regular work hours, or even at work.

3. Learners can train multiple times

With face to face training, work is carried out every time the training takes place, so if a learner needs refresher training, the cost is paid out again.

On the other hand, the bulk of the work in eLearning goes into the production of the course. Once that’s completed, learners can complete the course multiple times, perfect if they missed something during training or simply want to refresh their knowledge.

4. Some people engage better with eLearning

Appealing to different personality types and demographics is an increasingly discussed topic in business, as workplaces now span multiple generations and employers take factors like levels of introversion or extroversion into consideration.

The fact is that some demographics simply learn better through computers than face to face – if your staff are among them, then forcing them to train in other ways will always lead to poorer results.

5. eLearning makes record keeping far easier

If your business is ever audited, then you’ll be expected to present detailed records of your fire safety training, including the who, where, when and what of your training.

eLearning is the only training delivery model where record keeping is done automatically as a result of training being delivered. With any other form of training, it becomes someone’s job to maintain records, which leaves it open to human error and an endless amount of admin being created.

6. eLearning can be tailored to meet your organisation’s exact needs

Unlike training DVDs, eLearning courses are simple and cost-effective to tailor to the specifics of your organisation, which is a legal requirement of your fire safety training.

If there are any particular procedures which only apply to your business, or even a specific office, editing the content of an eLearning course is no more complicated than editing a Word document or PowerPoint presentation. If anything changes, eLearning can be updated rolled out to everyone within minutes.

Fire Safety eLearning

eLearning delivers a number of benefits which simply aren’t possible with other forms of training.

Health and Safety law exemptions for self-employed workers

From 1st October 2015, certain categories of self-employed workers will no longer be required to comply with health and safety law such as the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

The law is in place to protect people from exposure to risks caused by the activities of businesses and self-employed individuals, and will still apply to all cases which are deemed to carry risks.

The HSE estimates that this change will exempt 1.7 million self-employed individuals from legal health and safety requirements, including writers, accountants and online traders.

While removal of some of the ‘red tape’ around health and safety is likely to be a cause for celebration for many, this ruling highlights that the vast majority of businesses, including self-employed workers, cause some form of risk to other individuals – risk which must be managed in order to comply with health and safety law.

VinciWorks have over 20 years’ experience in providing businesses with online health and safety training. If you have a business of any size, we can help you to manage and risks arising from its activities and comply with relevant health and safety legislation.

We offer a portfolio of ready-made eLearning courses to meet the most common business health and safety risks, and have produced fully bespoke eLearning solutions for clients such as Royal Mail with more specific training requirements.

Uber case highlights employers’ driving at work health and safety responsibilities

Uber, whose mobile app lets users provide and book taxi services, is facing legal action over its drivers’ health and safety rights.

Currently, Uber does not consider its drivers to be employees, but the professional drivers’ union GMB has claimed that drivers are owed the same rights as any employee is owed by its employer.

These include rights provisioned by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which require employers to take reasonable measures to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employees and carry out risk assessments for all employees and work tasks.

Health and Safety responsibilities

The case highlights the health and safety responsibilities of all employers whose staff drive for work purposes – not just professional drivers.

Work-related driving accounts for around quarter of road accidents in the UK, making it one of the most dangerous work activities people undertake. Whether in their own vehicle or a company vehicle, if staff drive to reach meetings, make deliveries, transport clients, or attend events then several health and safety procedures must be in place.

As described in detail in our Driving At Work eLearning course, undertaking risk assessments, checking documentation, and providing communication and consultation with employees are some of the measures employers must put in place to ensure compliance with Health and Safety legislation.

Health and Safety measures should also ensure that drivers are fit to drive, their vehicles are well maintained, and the chance of an accident is minimal.

Discussing Uber, Steve Garelick of the GMB said: “Operators like Uber must understand that they have an ethical and social policy that matches society’s expectations of fair and honest treatment,” something which also applies to all businesses whose employees drive for work.