Dangers of cutting back on Health and Safety
Health and safety expert Robin Humphreys warns of the dangers of cutting back on Health and Safety spending in the light of a recent building collapse at a school during examinations.
The recent unfortunate incident at Minster College on the Isle of Sheppey, when a large section of heating and ventilation duct fell on a group of students taking examinations, is a timely reminder for all to ensure that health and safety is at the forefront of the attention of those responsible for a work place or premises to which the public have access.
In times of financial difficulty, there may be a temptation to cut back on property maintenance or inspection but, if you do so, such cut backs may be a dangerous and false economy.
All occupiers of premises have a duty to ensure that premises are reasonably safe for all visitors. This is likely to require those responsible for a work place or public premises to carry out, and importantly document, regular inspections to ensure that the premises are safe and to deal with items of disrepair. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the many and various regulations made under that Act also require those responsible to carry out risk assessments and to ensure as far as is reasonably practicable the health and safety of employees and others and to ensure that places of work and other premises are safe. Specifically in relation to mechanical ventilation systems, Section 5 of the Work Place (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires mechanical ventilation systems to be maintained (including cleaned as appropriate) in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.
At a minimum this will require those responsible regularly to inspect and ensure that fixing points for such ventilation systems are secure, that there are no leaks and that the systems are clean in order to avoid the catastrophic mechanical failure experienced at Minster College and to avoid spreading airborne disease.
Accurate record-keeping and a document trail will be essential.
Failure to comply with such common-sense legislation can have a number of consequences. Firstly, there may be incidents of the type experienced here leading to serious injury to employees and members of the public. There may be criminal penalties for breach of this legislation, with potentially terms of imprisonment, fines and the disqualification of directors.
There can also be claims for compensation which may be dealt with by an organisation’s insurers. Frequently overlooked however are the hidden costs associated with having to deal with a Health and Safety Executive investigation, loss of productivity, adverse publicity, the closure of a business or important premises and the much greater costs of repairing or rectifying a problem which could have been avoided more cheaply by inspection, maintenance and minor remedial repair at the time.
All thoughts are primarily with those who were injured in this incident on the Isle of Sheppey, but you can be sure that, if investigations show that the incident could have been prevented by proper installation or by inspection and maintenance thereafter, further action is likely to be taken against those responsible.
n Robin Humphreys is an associate solicitor at Thursfields Solicitors
