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15 December 2005 - HSC Recommend Explicit
Safety Duties for Directors
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Following a meeting by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) on
6 December 2005, in which unions and safety campaigners proposed that Directors
of organisations should have explicit health and safety duties ensuring
compliance with safety law, the HSC agreed and recommended the following:
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There should be positive legal duties on directors to ensure
their organisations comply with safety law.
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There should be more authoritative guidance.
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There should be more enforcement.
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There should be greater penalties and more use of director
disqualifications.
Recommendations by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
discussed at the meeting were also considered, however, it was the decision of
the HSC that the proposals from the unions and safety campaigners went beyond
the recommendations of the HSE paper which did not call for new legal duties.
Trades Union Congress Head of Safety, Hugh Robertson said:
"The TUC is delighted that the HSC has taken this view. We
must make sure that new and effective legislation is drawn up at the earliest
opportunity.
"We recognise that this achievement would not have been
possible but for the campaigning by both the trade unions and groups such as the
Simon Jones Campaign and the Centre for Corporate Accountability."
Centre of the Corporate Accountability Director, David Bergman
said:
"We are delighted that the Commission has unanimously
supported the need for changing the law and imposing positive duties on
directors.
"It is now for the HSE to produce a paper setting out the
legislative options and we look forward to being part of the discussion on the
nature of the legal change."
As the law stands at the moment, there are no positive
obligations upon Directors, or their equivalent in public bodies, to take the
necessary steps to ensure their companies comply with health and safety law.
Article by Alexandra Johnston
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