Health And Safety Conference 31 March 2006
Campbell Fitzpatrick Solicitors, in partnership with NICON and CEF, held a Health and Safety Conference at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Ormeau Road, Belfast on Friday 31st March. The audience represented a diverse range of economic activities, ranging from members of the construction industry to representatives from local borough councils.
The conference focused on the duties imposed upon employers and associated businesses by Health and Safety legislation and the steps that can be taken to minimise their exposure to prosecution and possible sanction in respect of breaches of the legislation.
This was set against the background of intense media attention in recent weeks and months on the issue of Health and Safety, no less so, following the conviction of Mr Lin Liangren for the manslaughter of 21 Chinese shellfish pickers who drowned off the English coastline two years ago.
Furthermore, in the last two years, this jurisdiction has witnessed record fines against construction companies and allied industries in connection with breaches of the health and safety legislation, which led to either death or injury of employees.
Mr Patrick Mullarkey, Partner of Campbell Fitzpatrick Solicitors focused in a practical manner, upon the legal obligations imposed by the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and associated legislation and regulations. He also set out practical advice to employers and businesses in order to minimise the possibility of future prosecution and sanction.
With an eye to the future, Mr Mullarkey alerted the audience to the implications of the proposals, now before Parliament in the form of a Corporate Manslaughter Bill (presently only applicable to England and Wales, however, it is certain that an identical or similar law will be passed in Scotland and in Northern Ireland in due course). These proposals, in the form of a consultation paper and a draft bill, set out to create the new offence of “Corporate Manslaughter”. This new bill will make it easier for companies who have shown little or no regard for the safety of their workers or members of the public to be prosecuted for a specific and serious criminal offence.
The draft bill overcomes the main obstacle to convictions under the existing and current law by removing the need to attach corporate guilt to the criminal negligence of a single very senior individual in the company. This would allow for companies to be found guilty of manslaughter if grossly negligent management failures lead to a death. The draft bill also takes the unprecedented step of extending the offence to Crown bodies, creating a level playing field between the public and private sectors in their liability for manslaughter and ensuring workers from Crown institutions are protected by the legislation.
This new proposed legislation will run in conjunction with the Health and Safety legislation already in existence.
The conference concluded with a presentation from Mr Ken Logan, Principal Inspector of the Heath and Safety Executive of Northern Ireland (HSENI), who has unparalleled experience in the investigation of accidents within the construction industry. Mr Logan’s talk concentrated on the approach of HSENI Inspectors to incidents, the powers of Inspectors, risk control measures and finally a number of case studies.
With particular reference to risk control management,
Mr Logan urged all attendees at the conference to recognise Health and
Safety as an integral part of their business. They should always ensure
that the employees or sub-contractors were provided with sufficient
information, instruction and training along with adequate supervision
whilst carrying out their particular tasks. Mr Logan was seeking to
encourage the construction industry in general that Health and Safety
standards must be improved and that they could be achieved by everyone
involved playing their part and living up to their responsibilities.
Downloads
Click Here To Download The PowerPoint Presentation By Ken Logan Of HSENI (0.2 MB)
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