Construction and demolition sector worst hit as health and safety fines are ratcheted up.
Companies across the UK have been forced to pay out over £61 million in health and safety fines throughout 2016 – almost 2.5 times.
And the figures reveal that the construction sector was the most costly, racking up a bill of almost £14 million.
Research conducted by the insurance and risk law firm found that there were a total of 292 incidents recorded during 2016, with an average pay-out almost a quarter of a million pounds. This is four times the £69,500 average cost seen the previous year, where 358 cases were brought.
This follows a change in legislation made in February 2016, with new guidelines imposed for health and safety, food hygiene and corporate manslaughter offences. The court now considers culpability, seriousness and likelihood of harm and the size of a business and its turnover when imposing fines.
Fines for businesses with a turnover in excess of £50m can now reach up to £10m for health and safety offences, and corporate manslaughter fines could be as much as £20m. This new system has been implemented to improve the standards of compliance with health and safety legislation for larger organisations by imposing fines proportionate to the size of the business, rather than using a universal figure for all offences.
Click here for more.
