Groundwork business briefing

Health and Safety

The Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007

The Corporate Manslaughter Act (England Wales and Northern Ireland) and Homicide Act 2007 (Scotland) has been published by the Home Office. The act is aimed at prosecuting companies whose gross negligence leads to the death of employees or members of the public.

In the UK, over 40,000 people have been killed in commercially related circumstances between 1966 and 2006 but under the old common law of manslaughter, only 34 companies were prosecuted for homicide and only seven resulted in convictions.

The new law will apply not just to the UK’s 2.3 million companies but also to partnerships, other employers like trade unions, and to some non-commercial organisations.

The sanctions include a fine (with no statutory maximum) and remedial orders, allowing courts to order an organisation convicted to take steps to remedy the management failure
leading to death. It is also possible for the court to impose a “publicity order” requiring the convicted organisation to publicise the details of its conviction and the amount of any fine.

To convict a company, the prosecution must prove that the failure came substantially from “senior management”. The threshold of guilt has not been lowered: it criminalises only an
organisation whose gross negligence has resulted in death.

Companies that have good safety policies have nothing to fear from the new Act.

Environment

Site Waste – It’s Criminal

Every year, the construction industry produces the equivalent of 5 tonnes of waste for every single person in the UK. Site waste is harmful to the environment and your business. The
introduction of Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs) by the DTI provides a structure for waste delivery and disposal at all stages during a construction project.

SWMPs will help to manage and reduce the amount of waste that construction projects produce, protecting the environment by reducing landfill and energy consumption as well as a greater take-up of recycled materials. It will also save you money as your materials supply is managed more efficiently. More effective storage and handling of materials, reduces waste and enables better recovery. Furthermore, recycling and reusing will cut disposal costs.

Construction firms are being urged to take early action on waste, before plans become a legal requirement for all construction projects over £250,000 in Spring 2008.

Energy Performance Certificates

The Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 have recently been published. These Regulations implement the
requirement under the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (2002/91/EC) for all buildings to have certificates showing their energy rating at the point of construction, sale and
rental.

There are three types of certificate:

1. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for commercial buildings, which shows the amount of carbon used by the energy demand of the building, and is valid for ten years;

2. EPCs for dwellings – shows the energy efficiency rating of a building, valid for ten years and is to be included within Home Information Packs; and

3. Display Energy Certificates (DECs). Shows the actual energy usage of a building. Initially only required for buildings over 1000m squared, that are occupied by a public authority or an institution providing a public service to a large number of persons, such as schools and hospitals. This is valid for one year.

The deadline for these three certificates to be implemented is April 6th 2008.

Red Tape being slashed to help SMEs go Green

It is hoped that planning rules are to be relaxed in order to make it easier for SMEs to install ‘green’ technologies, such as wind turbines and solar panels. Currently businesses must go through the planning system if they wish to install a wind turbine or solar panel, which can cost up £1,500, take 6 to 18 weeks to be considered, with no guarantee after that time. It is hoped that renewable energy equipment will be classed as ‘permitted developments’, which would mean if there was clearly no impact on the local area or the environment, specific planning permission would not be required.

Prosecution

AMS Group Ltd of Redditch, a manufacturer, supplier and installer of shop fittings and furniture, pleaded guilty at Redditch Magistrates to two charges related to failure to meet its obligation under laws governing the recovery and recycling of packaging. Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997, companies that handle over 50 tonnes of packaging and have a turnover of more than £2 million are required
to register with the Agency or a compliance scheme by 7 April each year. The company were fined £1,000, charged £1,586 in costs and ordered to pay £786 compensation to the Environment Agency.

United Utilities Fined for Sewage Pollution Incident

United Utilities have been fined £10,000 plus £1,900 costs after pleading guilty to illegally discharging raw sewage into Springfield Brook, Risley, near Warrington. The Environment Agency’s investigation into the effects of the sewage on the local environment and wildlife showed that there was a severe impact on the water quality which is harmful to invertebrates and this also caused low oxygen, harmful to fish. United Utilities said they have now introduced new monitoring procedures to ensure an event like this at the Warrington Road Pumping Station and other pumping stations does not happen again.