Health & Safety: A new challenge for procurement

Friday, May 6th, 2016

Health & Safety
A new challenge for procurement

 

The Sentencing Council (who in procurement has heard of them?) issued new definitive guidelines in regard to health and safety offences. The legislation came into force on 1st February 2016 and introduced new, significantly larger fines for health and safety offences. The guidelines cover the following offences:

  • Health & safety offences – Organisations
  • Health & safety offences – Individuals
  • Corporate manslaughter
  • Food hygiene and food safety offences – Organisations
  • Food hygiene and food safety offences – Individuals

The full details are available on the Sentencing Council website in a 50 page document. The guidelines are issued in accordance with section 120 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. It applies to all organisations and offenders aged 18 and older, who are sentenced on or after, February 2016, regardless of the date of the offence.

The seriousness of the new guidelines is that a breach of health & safety regulations now shows an offence range of; £50 fine – £10 million fine.

We are advising our clients and readers on our website to:

  • Review the procurement stance on how contractors manage health & safety.
  • Ask your contractors what changes have they made in their management of health & safety in the light of the new guidelines.
  • Ask a specific question about your contractors insurance for health & safety.
  • Establish the track record for your contractor’s management of health & safety.
  • The new guidelines have seen significant move from a results based approach to a risk based approach, hence, procurement should ensure that their risk modelling includes health & safety risk management.

If you would welcome a discussion, please contact Dr Brian Farrington at [email protected]