Posted By Kev I I have a presentation to make to a board of dircetors in Northern Ireland. I have been adapting an existing presentation to suit the applicable NI legislation. However, when I came to adapting section 37 of HSWA, I can't see the equivalent in the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978. Can anyone help? Do compnay directors etc. enjoy a reduced standard of legislation? I'm totally confused by this. Thanks in anticipation.

Posted By Kev I Thanks for the response Adept. I read that in the order, but what exactly does it mean? No mention of consent or connivance etc.

Posted By Paul Leadbetter I'm sure it will say much the same thing but can anyone enlighten us about the relevant section of the Interpretation Act (it is too long since it was published for it to appear online)? Paul

Posted By Pat Hannaway Hi Kev, you have found one of the quirks in our Health and Safety legislation here in Northern Ireland. You are quite correct, there is not an equivalent Section 37 dealing with Directors etc. I once discussed this with one of the Principal Health and Safety Executive (Northern Ireland) Inspectors (strictly off the record of course). His opinion was that this was a deliberate omission for "political" reasons (with a small "p"). At the time the legislation was being enacted here (1978), the "troubles" were at their height. Trying to attract outside investors here was almost impossible. To reduce "the burden" on potential businesses and to make the Province seem slightly more attractive, section 37 of the HASAW was changed at the time of drafting to reflect the fact that most large employers here were public sector bodies. However, the former Inspector's opinion was that the HASAWO sections 4 (employer / employee) and 5 (employer / non employee) already carry sufficient strenght to cover managers / Directors. That said, the courts here hand out embarrasingly weak penalties when the HSENI bring prosecutions. A recent example was that of a construction employee killed during building a multi million pound shopping mall. The fine was £10,000. The same week, I read in one of the H&S publications of a prosecution in England of a large retailer, whose employee had a finger amputated; they were fined £10,000. In the absence of any political consensus here in Northern Ireland, the chances of any imminent changes to the Health and Safety at Work Order (NI) 1978 are remote. Regards Pat

Posted By Adept Safety http://www.hseni.gov.uk/...aded_In=0&%20Parent_Id=0 The Safety Pays booklet available from here states on page 4 that "Directors and Managers can be held personally responsible"