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Health
And Safety At Work (Offences) Bill
This a private members Bill - which appears to have
Government support - tabled by Laurie Quinn MP.
It
had its second reading on 31 January 2003, which was
adjourned to 7 March 2003 and further adjourned to
4 April 2003
It
makes the following amendments to the 1974 Health
and Safety at Work Act:
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Raise
the maximum fine which may be imposed in the lower
courts to £20,000 for most health and safety
offences; |
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Make
imprisonment an option for more health and safety
offences in both the lower and higher courts; |
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Make
certain offences which are currently triable only
in the lower courts, triable in either the lower
or higher courts. |
These
proposals were first put forward following a joint
review of the current penalty maxima, which was carried
out by the Home Office, the then Department of the
Environment, Transport and the Regions, and the Health
and Safety Executive between February and September
1999.
The power to impose a fine of up to £20,000
is already available in respect of some offences under
the 1974 Act, such as breaches of the general duties
arising under sections 2-6. The Bill extends this
power to other comparable offences (for example, a
breach of regulations made under the 1974 Act).
At present, imprisonment is an option only in certain
cases. The Bill will make imprisonment available for
most health and safety offences.
Draft of the bill
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Click
Here to download the text of the bill (PDF
Document) |
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Click
here to see HTML version of the bill (parliament
web site) |
Bill's Explanatory Note
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Click
Here to see HTML version of the official 'Explanatory
Note' of the Bill (parliament web site) |
TUC Briefing
Parliamentary Debate on 31 January 2003
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Click
Here to download the debate on the Bill's
Second Reading on 31 Jan 2003 (word) |
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Click
Here to see HTML version of the of the debate
(parliament web site) |
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