Health and safety fines following deaths 'no deterrent'

The Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) said its research had shown that the majority of large companies convicted of health and safety offences involving the death of a worker or member of the public were fined at a level which was less than one 700th of their annual turnover.

If individuals earning the average annual income of £24,769 were sentenced at this level, they would be fined just £35, said the CCA.

The charity, which assists bereaved families following work-related deaths, said it was urging the Sentencing Advisory Panel (SAP) to provide guidance that would allow the courts to impose much higher fines than at present.

It wants companies convicted of "death-related" health and safety offences fined between 2.5% and 10% of their turnover, and for the new corporate manslaughter offence coming into effect next month it called for fines of between 15% and 40% of company turnover.

The research, which looked at convictions since 1 January 2006, also showed that most fines for health and safety offences following a fatality amounted to no more than 1% of gross profits.

'Deterrent effect'

David Bergman, executive director of the CCA said: "The fines that the courts currently impose upon companies for the most serious health and safety offences are so low as to be almost irrelevant to these companies.

"A key purpose of these prosecutions is deterrence - yet fines which are the equivalent of £35 for the average person simply have no impact upon a company's wealth."

He added: "Companies can be fined up to 10% of their turnover for breaching competition law - and this is when the company has not even been convicted of a criminal offence, and no personal injury yet along death is involved.

"Courts which have convicted companies of manslaughter, the most serious offence that companies can commit, must be able to fine them a much more significant amount. The threat of fines of between 15% to 40% of turnover is the kind of punishment appropriate to the seriousness of the offence and will create a real deterrent effect against companies needlessly placing the lives of workers and members of the public at risk."

The Sentencing Advisory Panel is currently drafting new guidance for courts on sentencing companies and other organisations convicted of health and safety and manslaughter offences.

To read the CCA's submission to the SAP, visit its website - here.