IOSH EDINBURGH BRANCH
Minutes of 178th Edinburgh Branch Meeting
Craighouse Campus, Napier University, Edinburgh – Thursday 11 January 2007 - 130pm
Sederunt: J Robertson M Gorman I D Scott R Innes J C Peoples L MacNeill
M Powell F Johnson R Wilson M Powell F Lindsay A Kennedy A Dick
J Fisher S Nazareth R Walker D Ward P Weikop A McLeod V Stewart
R McLean N Elliot I Murray M Benhaddad A James S McColm A Curran
D Richardson D McGlade S Beaton N Doherty E Ramsay B Barnbrook J Moyles
K Flockhart J Reid R Brownlee J Davis M Bancroft D Cawkwell L Roberts
P Ager A Murray J Hooker H Gardner S Heesom S Brown R Barton
D Stephen B Hammond K O’Donnell L Young R Bradford M Johnstone P Keogh
A Reid A Sharman F B Wright J Mellon K Lloyd M Downer C Watt
C Sparling S Boucher K Wilson RB Massie S Wilson J Hepburn P Veitch
P Harringon G MacGregor E O’Callaghan A Shielly(??)
• Accuracy:. Proposer – Simon Heesom; Seconder – Les Roberts.
· Seminar for the HSE on New Construction H&S Regulations: 17 Jan – Stirling
Public Services SG – Marion reported that the National safety Syposium was to be in Nottingham 3-4 Sept. PS Newsletters wll be available at Branch meetings to allow members have a look and sign up if interested.
Consultancy SG: Derek reported that all members of the SG in Edinburgh Branch had been emailed to see if Branch networking could be set up – 10 had responded – anyone else interested email him.
Julian Davis reported on the recent decision by the High Court (England & Wales) ordering the Crown Prosecution Service to review its decision not to bring manslaughter charges in the case of a work related death. Fuller report on the Branch website.
Amongst its major achievements was the National Safety Symposium and the Zurich Municipal Safety Awards Scheme. A lively SG well worth joining and taking part in.
Members who would like the full presentation should email the Secretary.
Is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 still relevant in the 21st Century?
Professor Frank B. Wright, LL.B. (Hons), LL.M., Ph.D., FRSA.
School of Law, University of Warwick; Associate, Outer
Temple Chambers, London.
· New and effective ways of creating and maintaining networks are required for the consultation of workers in small and medium sized enterprises.
In recent years, the UK has seen dramatic job losses in agriculture, forestry and fishing, coal mining and most parts of manufacturing. Job cuts in these industries, however, have been offset by increases in employment in many other areas, especially the services industries and sectors involved in processing and handling information. This together with the complexities within the labour market and the growth in the number of small businesses has lead to a disconnect between HSC/E and the workpeople which it seeks to protect.
· Changing Workforce Composition – increasingly feminised; ageing active; increased temporary employment; flexible forms of organisation.
Most women work in the service industries and are more likely to suffer from certain kinds of occupational illness e.g. infectious illnesses and neurological complaints. Workers aged 55 and above tend to suffer the most serious accidents, with an above average fatality rate. The 55 – plus group is also one with the greatest incidence of long – development – time occupational illnesses, such as cancers and cardiovascular diseases. New forms of work such as part-time work and non-standard working times (e.g. shift work or night work) are likewise factors which add to the degree of risk.
· Costs of Accidents and Ill Health
40 million working days are being lost each year in the United Kingdom to occupational ill health and injury imposing an annual cost to British society of £35 billion (3.5% GDP). Surveys show that about 2 million people suffer from an illness that they believe to be caused or made worse by work.[1]
· Public Safety (e.g. Transco/Buncefield/Hatfield/Barrow)
(i) Transco - “The courts do, and will continue to, regard breaches of section 3 as extremely serious where they involve exposure of the public to death or serious injury on a longstanding and extensive basis.”
HMA v. Transco Plc 25th August 2005.
(ii) Buncefield- The explosions and fires that burned for more than three days were massive and devastating, and caused major damage to residential and commercial properties near the depot. Some 3,300 claims, worth a potential £700m, have been filed by individuals, loss assessors and companies after the Hemel Hempstead depot blast in 2005.
(iii) Hatfield - In the Hatfield rail crash (2000) Mr Justice Mackay described the performance of Balfour Beatty as one of the worst examples of sustained industrial negligence in a high-risk industry he had ever seen. He said that 750,000 people had been put at risk by passing through the poorly maintained Hatfield area.
(iv) Barrow- In Barrow there was an outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease in Barrow in July/August 2002. Seven people died. A further 180 people fell ill. The source of the outbreak was traced to air-conditioning in Forum 28, a property in the centre of Barrow owned and run by the local Council.
· Victims
The Government wishes to be ‘tough on the causes of crime’ and to give additional support to victims. Some 30 - 40 ‘criminal justice’ related Acts of Parliament passed since 1997.
· Director Responsibility
Significant changes to directors responsibilities are being planned. The Commission believes that directors can play a vital role in ensuring high standards in health and safety. The latest report from the House of Commons Select Committee on Work and Pensions states that statutory health and safety duties for company directors would have a positive impact on the current levels of preventable workplace deaths and injuries.
· Excessive Regulation
Community law now covers most aspects of working conditions and most sectors of the economy by directives. The Commission now has an important task to streamline and simplify the UK law. Business leaders and proprietors of small firms, in the United Kingdom have indicated that they now feel swamped and overburdened by over prescriptive regulation. This extra layer of European regulatory law has had a harmful effect on the UK policy of prevention based on risk. Accessibility and transparency are desirable goals.
q Enforcement – CPS/Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
(e.g. Hatfield/Menezes/Barrow); Workplace Deaths; Director Disqualification.
q Penalties: Cabinet Office Review on Regulatory Penalties - A new Penalties Regime is expected to be introduced in 2007.
q Victims - Criminal justice bodies, including the Prison Service, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and all police forces in England and Wales will need to ensure that victims of crime and their families receive information, protection and support.
q Monitoring of the impact of HSC/E’s regulatory activities on the development of civil law in the context of the so-called ‘Compensation Culture’ [2]
q Regulation:
Hampton - The final report of the Hampton Review[3] called for a major shift in regulatory culture, to a culture based around the rigorous consideration of risks, a proportionate response to such risks, and a streamlined, more consistent and more effective regulatory system. The Report recommended that 31 national regulators would be merged into seven by April 2009. The Merged Body will become one of those seven.
The Hampton Report on Penalties - The Macrory Review reported on options for the reform of regulatory sanctioning regimes. The Government agreed to commission this review as a result of recommendations arising from the Hampton Report (published In March 2005). Richard Macrory, Professor of Environmental Law from University College London, was appointed by the Better Regulation Executive to lead the project in September 2005.
Davidson - Stronger measures recommended to help prevent over implementation of EU measures in the future.
Legislation:
· Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill 2006-2007
The proposed new unified tribunal structure, consisting of a First-tier Tribunal and an Upper Tribunal, will provide greater clarity and simplicity for tribunal users and their advisers. The tribunals judiciary will be unified under a Senior President.
· Corporate Manslaughter Bill 2006-2007
The Bill makes provision for a new offence of corporate manslaughter (to be called corporate homicide in Scotland) and for this to apply to companies and other incorporated bodies, Government departments and similar bodies and police forces.
· Companies Act 2006
Directors now have a duty to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members. This replaces the common law duty to act in good faith in the company’s interests.
The duty to promote the company’s success will involve considering, amongst other factors:
· the likely long term consequences of a decision;
· the interests of the company's employees;
· relationships with the company's trading partners;
· the effect of the company's operations on the community and the environment;
· the desirability of maintaining the company's reputation for high standards of business conduct; and
· the need to act fairly as between members.
The Health & Safety Commission and the Health & Safety Executive are now working with the Institute of Directors with assistance from representatives of business, the trade unions, professional bodies, central and local government and other stakeholders to produce new guidance. It will provide a link between operational and strategic management.
Commission v. United Kingdom (So Far as is Reasonably Practicable) European Court of Justice. An action was brought on 21 March 2005 by the Commission of the European Communities against the United Kingdom (Case C-127/05). The Commission claims that the Court should declare that in restricting the duty on employers to ensure the health and safety of workers in every aspect related to the work to a duty to do this ‘so far as is reasonably practicable’, the United Kingdom has failed to fulfil its obligations under Articles 5 (1) and 5(4) of Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12th June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work. If the United Kingdom were to lose this case this would entail a radical change in health and safety law.
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Max Bancroft, MRSC, CMIOSH Branch Secretary |
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[1] Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, Hansard [Lords] Debates 26 January col 1311
[2] See for example: A Survey of Changes in the Volume and Composition of Claims for Damages for Occupational Injury or Ill Health Resulting from the Management of Health and Safety at Work and Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) (Regulations 2003. A.C. Neal and F.B. Wright, University of Warwick for the Health &Safety Executive 2005.
[3] ‘Reducing administrative burdens: effective inspection and enforcement’. HM Treasury. Philip Hampton March 2005