Afternoon, I have been asked, at short notice, (tommorrow!) to put together a presentation on the legal responsibilities of managers & supervisors with regards to health & safety. While employEEs legal responsibilities are quite clear cut (hasawa 7, 8 etc.), line management is not so. Am I right in thinking there are no specific statutory (safety) duties imposed on Managers, Supervisors etc., only those imposed on the employER as a whole? For example, a senior manager encourages an unsafe act and a fatality occurs. Could they be held accountable under any statute (could they be regarded as the employer...?) or would it just come under negligence / common law. Hope I've made myself clear, getting myself in a bit of a tizzy putting this together quickly. Best Regards, Ian

Try S37 HASAWA for starters. http://www.hse.gov.uk/leadership/legislation.htm

s37, **slaps wrist** See what happens when you rush.....! Thanks for your swift replies. Ian

Don't forget that Sections 2-8 of the HASAWA now carry a possible penalty of up to two years imprisonment following the introduction of the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 - £15000 fine isn't so bad after all, is it? :-( Alan

I've sent you a PM. Hope this helps.

Ian - sorry I was in a bit of a rush at #4 and sort of missed this bit "...a senior manager encourages an unsafe act and a fatality occurs. Could they be held accountable under any statute ... or would it just come under negligence /common law". The answer is that they most definitely could be held accountable, both under statutory provisions but also under common law. I was intersted in the use of the word 'JUST' to describe 'common law' though. Both murder and Gross Negligence Manslaughter are common law offences, and as offences go they don't come a lot more serious. Just! Gillian Beckingham was charged with 7 counts of Gross Negligence Manslaugter, she endured two trials, which I would guess were EXTREMELY stressful for her. She was subsequently found not guilty of the manslaughter charges but guilty of offences under S7 and as I have said fined £15 000. I have little doubt that the trial etc was a life changing event for her.

The Management of H&S regs are also applicable. It is all about the employer, i.e. reg 3 Risk Assessment The employer SHALL make a suitable risk assessment. Every regulation in the management regs starts with the employer and most say SHALL.

Managers can delegate responsibility but they cannot give away or delegate Accountability. so if they do make someone else responsible they need to check they are are carrying out that responsibilty becouse they the manager are still accountable forgot to put name Sos Frank

I went to a legal update where a Court of Appeal case was quoted where the interpretation of Section 37 was amended. Whilst during the orginal trial was the "traditional" intrepretation that there had to be a "directing mind" the CoA interpreted it as the Crown only need prove that the Director(s) ought to have known of conduct giving rise to the breach of duty. Reference was made to the IOD/HSE publication for Directors as giving information to judges & prosecution to prove that the Director(s) ought to have known. It was also stated that the government was reviewing section 37 to align it with the rest of europe. The CoA also drew attention to the Disqualification of Directors Act in that conviction of a health & safety offence allows the court to disqualify a director for an appropriate period.

Best tell that to NEBOSH examiners :) That was good advice on the CoA stuff - why didn't I know that yesterday :)

I always thought you can delegate the task but not the responsibility.

And one possibly for the future; a bill entitled 'Health and Safety (Company Director Liability) Bill' had its first reading on 19/01/2010, see http://www.shponline.co....news&article_id=9707

Hi all, Thanks for your replies, presentation was a success thanks! We discussed the legislation and recent court cases involving individuals. The most effective bit however was the "real world" bit as they like to call it.... We discussed practical ways of how managers can fulfil their responsibilities (leading by example, involvement, not turning a blind eye etc.) and it seems to have the desired effect - my phone hasn't stopped ringing since!! The reason for my OP was me being in a rush and not being able to find s37. Doh! I'm fully aware of civil negligence (nebosh drummed that into me!) but most statutory legislation refers to the employer as having the duty, with, as I see it, s37. providing the link to line management. Unfortunately, some line managers hide behind the fact that they aren't the employer and that safety is the responsibility of the safety manager or the M.D. (interestingly with the latter thinking the opposite!) The presentation has addressed this, and all managers are now aware. I recommend anyone running this type of presentation if they haven’t already done so. Best Regards, and have a good weekend. Ian