4.2 How the Law Works: UK Example

You do not need to know every regulation, but you need to understand how safety law works. Remember the accident from Module 1. If it was caused by a failure to manage risks, the regulator may act and there may be a prosecution. The injured worker may also seek compensation. So there are two kinds of legal proceedings: a criminal case and a civil action.

Criminal law

Employers in the UK have a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to manage safety and health risks. The Act is a statute, a law made by Parliament. Where a statute allows criminal proceedings, breaches can be punished by prison, fines or remedial orders. For less serious offences that are tried only in a magistrates' court, there is a time limit of about six months from when the enforcing authority knew of the breach. More serious offences that can go to the Crown Court have no such limit.

• Under the 1974 Act, employers, directors, managers, manufacturers, contractors and employees all have duties to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and health in what they do.
• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 add the general requirements for employers to assess reasonably foreseeable risks and to apply controls.
• The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 aim to make sure that workplaces meet the health, safety and welfare needs of the whole workforce, including people with disabilities.
• The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 sets out the offence for which an organisation can be prosecuted if a gross failure in how its activities were managed or organised caused death through a gross breach of a duty of care.
• Other regulations set the minimum requirements for specific hazards, for example chemicals and work equipment.

This law is proactive, because it is meant to encourage prevention, and reactive, because it punishes those who break it. In a criminal case the prosecution must prove its case, so the State has the burden of proof, and the standard is beyond reasonable doubt. For breaches of some sections of the 1974 Act, however, the defendant must prove that it was not reasonably practicable to do more. This is a reverse burden of proof.

Fines come out of the company's turnover and are not covered by insurance.

A study aid, not published or endorsed by IOSH or OSHA. Laws and limits differ between countries.