Guidelines signal further rise in health and safety penalties

The Council considered more guidance was needed for sentencing corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety offences particularly those involving individuals and non-fatal health and safety offences and has been conducting a public consultation.

The draft guidance proposes that Courts take into account a number of factors including the seriousness of the offence and the financial circumstances of the organisation or individual. Importantly, it proposes that the turnover of corporate offenders forms the basis of the penalty calculation. Turnover is seen as a more accurate measure of financial means and is less prone to accounting manipulation.

The proposed guidance will assist Courts in dealing with difficult issues such as risk and degree of harm involved in each offence and will also identify appropriate fine levels for organisations including charities and public bodies.

It is clear that using turnover as the base figure for determining penalties will lead to a significant increase in financial penalties for some large organisations convicted of such offences. The same will be true for smaller and medium-sized organisations although the council did not feel that penalties for such organisations were generally too low.

If adopted, the guidelines could result in more contested trials and greater examination of an organisation’s financial status on conviction. More time and expense would be incurred by prosecutors and offenders arguing over the health, or otherwise, of a company’s balance sheet. There is likely to be greater use of forensic accountants supporting either side.

In principle, sentencing guidelines should assist Courts in returning more consistent sentences. The council may have had one eye on the removal of the current financial limit of fines available to Magistrates Courts once Section 85 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Prosecution of Offenders Act comes into force.

The consultation closed on 18 February. The likely outcome is a more consistent approach to sentencing but ever higher fines for health and safety offences.