Lawyers warn H&S fines could skyrocket

Tougher sentencing guidelines start to bite as prosecutions hit companies across the board.

Lawyers have warned the industry needs to become more aware of the new HSE sentencing guidelines, as fines for construction companies have hit more than £12.6m since last February. 

New penalties came into force in February 2016 in which fines are proportional to turnover and a number of big names have fallen foul of the new rules as well as a general increase in fines and custodial sentences over the last year.

Insurance and risk law firm BLM has been tracking construction fines weekly since the new rules came into play and found the three highest fines alone totalled £6.5m, all of which involved fatalities of either staff or customers.

Directors of two construction companies were also given custodial sentences. One was given six years after being found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter, the other was sentenced to six months after one of his employees was killed on site.

Balfour Beatty, Travis Perkins and Kier are among those that have been fined.

Balfour Beatty took the biggest hit, fined a total of £3.6m since February 2016 for two incidents in which workers were killed, while Travis Perkins was fined £2m for an incident where a customer died after being crushed by a company vehicle.

Kier MG (formerly known as May Gurney) was fined more than £2m at Lincoln Crown Court after a worker’s leg was broken in six places when a trench collapsed on him.

Helen Devery, partner and head of health and safety at BLM, said: “Between February and December 2016, construction companies incurred fines totalling more than £12.6m. What is worrying is that awareness of these guidelines is piecemeal across the industry with some smaller businesses failing to understand their importance and the potential impact on their business.

“All construction companies, big or small, must recognise that the causes of deaths and injuries have remained generally the same so health and safety has to continue to be a key priority for senior management and across the wider business. Risks should be assessed carefully on each project and effective training undertaken.

“Failure to undertake these two processes are frequent causes of injury and death. So the message on safety remains unchanged – it is the penalty for getting it wrong that has become the real sting in the tail,” added Devery.

Her views were echoed by Kevin Bridges, partner in health and safety at law firm Pinsent Masons, who also said from his monitoring of the situation over the last year he believes there is still not enough awareness of the situation.

“For small or medium-sized companies, they might not have the health and safety power of some of the big contractors, and I’m seeing, in general, a lot of awareness is not out there.

He added: “I also think the value of fines is only the tip of the iceberg and we can expect them to rise even more, look at Alton Towers operator Merlin being fined £5m earlier this year. That was a horrific accident but nobody actually died, I think the construction industry is in danger of much larger penalties if someone is killed.

“It is only a matter of time before judges become more confident with the new rules and impose further significant fines on larger construction businesses.”

Others have weighed in on the issue, with the British Safety Council also pointing out over the summer that the potential for fines to rise even higher is quite clear.

It was pointed out by the safety advisory body that large contractors, as defined by the Sentencing Council, are firms with a turnover above £50m and can be fined up to £20m under the new guidelines.

However, this is not a cap and the wording on the official document says: “Where an offending organisation’s turnover or equivalent very greatly exceeds the threshold for large organisations, it may be necessary to move outside the suggested range to achieve a proportionate sentence,” opening the door for fines to skyrocket even more.