The guide, Leadership Actions for Directors and Board Members, includes quotes from health and safety leaders in the public and private sectors, for instance:
‘Health and safety is a fundamental part of business. Boards need someone with passion and energy to ensure it stays at the core of the organisation’
It sets out which is expected of the Board in terms of direction in order to Plan, Deliver Monitor and Review health and safety:
‘Effective health and safety performance comes from the top; members of the board have both collective and individual responsibility for health and safety. Directors and boards need to examine their own behaviours, both individually and collectively, against the guidance given - and, where they see that they fall short of the standards it sets them, to change what they do to become more effective leaders in health and safety.’
It also refers to the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and says that the guide could be a relevant consideration for a jury depending on the circumstances of a particular case.
As well as good practice case studies, of which many more are listed on the website, it also highlights a few examples of where leadership has fallen short:
Competent advice, training and supervision
Following the fatal injury of an employee maintaining machinery at a recycling firm employing approximately 30 people, a company director received a 12-month custodial sentence for manslaughter. The machinery was not properly isolated and started up unexpectedly.
An HSE and police investigation revealed there was no safe system of work for maintenance; instruction, training and supervision were inadequate. HSE’s investigating principal inspector said: 'Evidence showed that the director chose not to follow the advice of his health and safety advisor and instead adopted a complacent attitude, allowing the standards in his business to fall.'
Monitoring
The managing director of a manufacturing company with around 100 workers was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for manslaughter following the death of an employee who became caught in unguarded machinery. The investigation revealed that, had the company adequately maintained guarding around a conveyor, the death would have been avoided.
The judge made clear that whether the managing director was aware of the situation was not the issue: he should have known as this was a long-standing problem. An area manager also received a custodial sentence. The company received a substantial fine and had to pay the prosecution's costs.
Risk assessment
A company and its officers were fined a total of £245,000 and ordered to pay costs of £75,500 at Crown Court in relation to the removal of asbestos. The company employed ten, mostly young, temporary workers; they were not trained or equipped to safely remove the asbestos, nor warned of its risk. The directors were also disqualified from holding any company directorship for two years and one year respectively.
While the guide applies to businesses of all sizes HSE also provides further specific advice for small companies.