Food firms facing greater safety fines

The guidelines apply to all organisations and offenders aged 18 and older who are sentenced from today onwards, regardless of when the offence occurred, the Sentencing Council, who published the guidelines, said.

However, food and drinks manufacturers in particular could face greater fines if health and safety regulations are breached.

Extra money through increased fines going into Treasury coffers should not be the name of the game. The objective must be to reduce the deficit of fatal and major injuries and occupational ill health

BSC policy and standards director Neil Stone

For example, those in breach of food and safety hygiene regulations in England could now be hit with unlimited fines - regardless of whether they are being charged with an indictable or summary offence.

Individuals in breach of regulations in England could also face unlimited fines and/or two years’ custody.

Meanwhile, those in Wales who are found in breach of food hygiene regulations and general food regulations face unlimited fines, while large organisations could incur fines of up to £3m dependent on offence range scenarios.

Individuals in Wales could face an unlimited fine and between six months’ to two years’ custody.

The guidelines also stipulate that for all organisations found in breach of duty towards employees and non-employees, an unlimited fine can be applied regardless of being charged with indictable or summary offences.

Firms that fall into designated ‘offence ranges’, which are determined by the likelihood of harm, could be fined up to £10 million.

Only large organisations, with £50m turnover or more, will incur £10m fines, with the fine category range dropping dependent on the size of the organisation.

However, for “very large organisations”, the guidelines suggest the fine ranges can be exceeded to achieve a proportionate sentence.

For individuals in breach of health and safety regulations, the maximum penalty when tried on indictment is an unlimited fine and/or two years’ custody. The maximum when tried summarily is an unlimited fine and/or six months’ custody.

Offence ranges, which are determined on the level of culpability, are set between conditional discharge and two years’ custody.

Elsewhere in the guidelines, for corporate manslaughter, the offence range, which is split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ categories depending on company size – is fineable up to £20m, with a maximum unlimited fine.

Corporate manslaughter charges are triable only by indictment.

Neal Stone, policy and standards director at the British Safety Council, said: “We broadly welcome the new guidelines and in particular that in future that three factors will be key in determining fines for health and safety offences: the degree of harm caused, the culpability of the offender, and; the turnover of the offending organisation.

“This long overdue change is specifically in relation to the level of fines imposed and in certain cases the use of imprisonment as a sanction.”

According to Stone, it is clear that courts have “on occasions” failed to properly take into account the seriousness of the offence in weighing up the appropriate penalty.

“To date the largest fine imposed in Great Britain for a health and safety offence – £15 million – was on Transco in 2005. That unenviable record may soon change,” he said.

Stone said the new guidelines will result in far greater fines in some cases, and reflect a shift in public opinion, as well as concerns among certain members of the judiciary.

“What we will need to see is clear evidence that the new guidelines have played their part in improving health and safety,” Stone said.

“Extra money through increased fines going into Treasury coffers should not be the name of the game. The objective must be to reduce the deficit of fatal and major injuries and occupational ill health.”