Breakfast Meeting

Employment& Health and Safety

Covering• A round-up of recent changes to

legislation– With a focus on the changes to

pension legislation and what this means for you

• A look at the future of employment legislation

• Current issues and risks facing business and employers

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

• Announced in October 2012

• Culmination of a number of consultations in various areas of employment

• Govt commitment to instil confidence in employers to take on staff

• Package of measures to cut red tape give employers greater flexibility and easing the administration burden

Legislation Update

• Protection for ‘whistleblowing’ amended to ‘public interest’ cases only

• Changes to the tribunal system– Simplification– Tribunal fees–Capping of compensatory element of award

• Settlement agreements –the most significant change

Legislation Update

• Amendment to the Equality Act - repealing third party harassment provision

• Employee-owner contract

• New TUPE legislation

Round up of recent legislation• October 2012

– Apprenticeships (form of apprenticeship agreement) Regulations 2012– Workplace pension reforms

• Feb 2013– NMW increase to £6.19

• March 2013– Unpaid parental leave increased from 13 to 18 weeks

• April 2013– Increase in statutory payments– Consultation period for collective redundancies(>100) reduced from

90 to 45 days

Future changes anticipated

• New health & work assessment and advisory service(2014)

• New modern workplace initiatives– Right to flexible working extended - not limited to

those with children (2014)– Shared parental leave and age increase (2015)

Social Media – halo and horns• Have a clear vision of how social media is to

be used in the business• Have clear guidelines and a clear policy of

what is and is not acceptable and communicate it well

• Train those who are to contribute to social media as part of their role

• Incorporate mis-use of social media into disciplinary procedures

Managing Absence

• Have a clear absence management policy and communicate what is expected

• Use procedures such as return to work interviews• Monitor frequency and patterns of short term

absence • Tackle issues as and when they arise, informally

(document discussions)• Decide when formal procedure / action is required• Stay in touch with employees on long term sick

Managing Performance

• Be clear what is expected– From the job role in terms of tasks but also from the

individual in terms of attitude / behaviour• Review where expectations are not being met and

discuss• Identify how these should be improved with clear

timescales and program for monitoring• Review• Take Action (linked to disciplinary procedure) if

necessary

Auto Enrolment – the facts

• Starting from October 2012, employers must implement a compliant pension scheme by their staging date (set by DWP)

• Maintain the scheme in accordance with the relevant pension legislation

Auto enrolment – the figures and implications

• 1.2 million employers will have to set up a compliant pension scheme

• 11million employees will need to be enrolled

• Pension providers ability to respond to demand?

• Availability of advice to get things up and running for employers and communicate with all employees

• Budgetary decisions around staff costs

ProAktive

Directors Briefing

Ken Stevens CMIOSH

Fee for Intervention

An update

Fee for Intervention

• 1st October 2012• Compliant businesses will not pay a fee• Recovery of costs for material breach• Current cost £124 per hour• Prosecution costs sought through the courts• Invoicing every two months with 30 days to pay• Queries and disputes process established

Material breach

“A material breach is when, in the opinion of the HSE inspector,

there has been a contravention of

health and safety law that requires them to notify the dutyholder,

in writing, of that opinion ”

Scope - exclusions• Existing permissioning regimes– Including Asbestos– COMAH sites

• Local Authorities • Self-employed dutyholders (putting only themselves at risk)• Non-Health and Safety at Work Act legislation– Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance– Fire – Regulatory Reform Orders

Update

• 1800 invoices issued at £857,000 for the Government in the second invoice run, from 1 December 2012 to 31 January 2013

• 500 invoices & £232,000 more than the first 2 months in November & December 2012

• The construction sector saw the largest increase in invoices (68%)

• The second largest increase came from the manufacturing sector (28%)

Update

• Average value of invoice remains relatively low at £474 (just under 4 hours)

• There have been 89 queries raised in relation to the invoices issued

• Of these queries, HSE conceded and amended 26 of them in the recipients’ favour

Poorly maintained or misused ladders

Dangerous work at height

Inadequate safety guards on machines

Badly organised workplace transport

Exposure to deadly asbestos fibres

Exposure to toxic paint vapours

Creating clouds of silica dust

Damage caused by vibrating power tools

Unhygienic welfare facilities

In summary• Compliant businesses will not pay a fee• Recovery of costs for material breach• Guidance is available via HSE’s website• HSE is working with industry to provide explanation and

advice

FFI IS IN PLACE NOW

Corporate Manslaughter

Basic facts • Only 3 successful prosecutions in 5 years• Latest case LION steel• £480,000 fine• £84,000 costs• 16 strong legal team including barristers,

solicitors etc• Directors & Officers Insurance

Other Facts

• Last year 63 new investigations were commenced representing a 40% increase on the previous year

• A further 56 cases of possible corporate manslaughter are currently under review by the CPS

• Over the past 4 years there have been 40 convictions of companies for lesser health and safety offences involving fatalities.

Increase in Cases

2009 2010 2011 20120

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

7

26

45

63

Corporate Manslaughter Cases

Corporate Manslaughter Cases

H&S Update

• The number of workers killed in Britain last year has fallen

• 148 workers were fatally injured between April 2012 and March 2013, compared with 172 in the previous year.

H&S Update

RIDDOR changes for October 2013• The classification of ‘major injuries’ to workers is

being replaced with a shorter list of‘specified injuries’.

• The existing schedule detailing 47 types of industrial disease is being replaced with eight categories of reportable work-related illness.

• Fewer types of ‘dangerous occurrence’ will require reporting

H&S Update

There are no significant changes to the reporting requirements for:

• Fatal accidents.• Accidents to non-workers (members of the

public).• Accidents which result in the incapacitation of

a worker for more than seven days• £5.9 million saving over 10 years

H&S Update

• The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched a consultation on changes to the content of an Asbestos-related Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) that will consolidate two existing documents (L143 & L127)

• HSE have published revised guidance for employers with health and safety responsibilities for young people, and in particular those on work experience.

H&S Update

• The HSE are consulting on guidance on how to comply with the requirements of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. (ends July 30th)

• Removal of strict liability for breaches of certain health and safety regulations.

• No civil claim can be brought for breach of a health and safety statutory duty unless the regulation expressly provides for it

Recent Prosecution

Construction company working on a site in Newcastle City CentreBreached Work at Height Regulations & CDM RegulationsImprovement & Prohibition Notices for welfare facilitiesFined £10000 + £5200 costs

Recent prosecutions

Machinery Supplier & Engineering Company Fines over £450000 following the death of Brian Miller a 38 year old father of 2 who was crushed to death by a hydraulic ram on a new piece of machineryBreached H&S at Work Act 1974

Questions

Ken StevensJodi CoolingJohn Carter