Posted By Karen Todd Hello all, Can anyone give me some guidance as to what makes the HSE decide to prosecute different people? I.e. when would a company be fined, or what would make them go for a director, manager, or individual employee instead/as well? Do directors have a different status to managers? I am a bit confused on this one! Thanks, Karen

Posted By Phill Birch The Policy suggested by Diane relates to general principles, one of which is "Transparency". However, the actual decision on a prosecution is now a formalised process, to produce a response which is both proportional to the offence and consistent. You might therefore want to look at the Enforcement Management Model (EMM). This is now what all HSE Field Operations Directorate (FOD) Inspectors use to "rate" whether or not a prosecution is justified. Local Authorities will be expected to have it in operation by April 2004. The EMM is a "Fully Open" status and if you have Acrobat Reader, you can read what FOD will consider in each case here - http://www.hse.gov.uk/enforce/emm.pdf Phill