Here's a run through of today's breakfast briefing which touches on the latest employment updates; auto enrolment, managing performance, managing absence, social media, and health and safety updates, corporate manslaughter and fee for intervention. If you would like any other information, please contact Ken or Jodi on 01302 341 344.

1. Breakfast Meeting
Employment
& Health and Safety

2. Covering
• A round-up of recent changes to
legislation
– With a focus on the changes to
pension legislation and what
this means for you
• A look at the future of employment
legislation
• Current issues and risks facing
business and employers

3. Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill
• Announced in October 2012
• Culmination of a number of consultations in various
areas of employment
• Govt commitment to instil confidence in employers to
take on staff
• Package of measures to cut red tape give employers
greater flexibility and easing the administration burden

4. Legislation Update
• Protection for ‘whistleblowing’ amended to
‘public interest’ cases only
• Changes to the tribunal system
–Simplification
–Tribunal fees
–Capping of compensatory element of award
• Settlement agreements –the most significant
change

5. Legislation Update
• Amendment to the Equality Act - repealing
third party harassment provision
• Employee-owner contract
• New TUPE legislation

6. Round up of recent legislation
• October 2012
– Apprenticeships (form of apprenticeship agreement)
Regulations 2012
– Workplace pension reforms
• Feb 2013
– NMW increase to £6.19
• March 2013
– Unpaid parental leave increased from 13 to 18 weeks
• April 2013
– Increase in statutory payments
– Consultation period for collective redundancies(>100)
reduced from 90 to 45 days

7. Future changes anticipated
• New health & work assessment and advisory
service(2014)
• New modern workplace initiatives
– Right to flexible working extended - not limited to
those with children (2014)
– Shared parental leave and age increase (2015)

8. Social Media – halo and horns
• Have a clear vision of how social media is to
be used in the business
• Have clear guidelines and a clear policy of
what is and is not acceptable and
communicate it well
• Train those who are to contribute to social
media as part of their role
• Incorporate mis-use of social media into
disciplinary procedures

9. Managing Absence
• Have a clear absence management policy and
communicate what is expected
• Use procedures such as return to work interviews
• Monitor frequency and patterns of short term
absence
• Tackle issues as and when they arise, informally
(document discussions)
• Decide when formal procedure / action is
required
• Stay in touch with employees on long term sick

10. Managing Performance
• Be clear what is expected
– From the job role in terms of tasks but also from the
individual in terms of attitude / behaviour
• Review where expectations are not being met
and discuss
• Identify how these should be improved with clear
timescales and program for monitoring
• Review
• Take Action (linked to disciplinary procedure) if
necessary

11. Auto Enrolment – the facts
• Starting from October 2012, employers must
implement a compliant pension scheme by
their staging date (set by DWP)
• Maintain the scheme in accordance with the
relevant pension legislation

12. Auto enrolment – the figures and
implications
• 1.2 million employers will have to set up a compliant
pension scheme
• 11million employees will need to be enrolled
• Pension providers ability to respond to demand?
• Availability of advice to get things up and running for
employers and communicate with all employees
• Budgetary decisions around staff costs

13. ProAktive
Directors Briefing
Ken Stevens CMIOSH

14. Fee for Intervention
An update

15. Fee for Intervention
• 1st October 2012
• Compliant businesses will not pay a fee
• Recovery of costs for material breach
• Current cost £124 per hour
• Prosecution costs sought through the courts
• Invoicing every two months with 30 days to pay
• Queries and disputes process established

16. Material breach
“A material breach is
when, in the opinion
of the HSE inspector,
there has been a
contravention of
health and safety
law that requires
them to notify the
dutyholder, in
writing, of that
opinion ”

17. Scope - exclusions
• Existing permissioning regimes
– Including Asbestos
– COMAH sites
• Local Authorities
• Self-employed dutyholders (putting only themselves at risk)
• Non-Health and Safety at Work Act legislation
– Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance
– Fire – Regulatory Reform Orders

18. Update
• 1800 invoices issued at £857,000 for the
Government in the second invoice run, from 1
December 2012 to 31 January 2013
• 500 invoices & £232,000 more than the first 2
months in November & December 2012
• The construction sector saw the largest
increase in invoices (68%)
• The second largest increase came from
the manufacturing sector (28%)

19. Update
• Average value of invoice remains relatively low
at £474 (just under 4 hours)
• There have been 89 queries raised in relation
to the invoices issued
• Of these queries, HSE conceded and amended
26 of them in the recipients’ favour

20. Poorly maintained or misused ladders

21. Dangerous work at height

22. Inadequate safety guards on machines

23. Badly organised workplace transport

24. Exposure to deadly asbestos fibres

25. Exposure to toxic paint vapours

26. Creating clouds of silica dust

27. Damage caused by vibrating power tools

28. Unhygienic welfare facilities

29. In summary
• Compliant businesses will not pay a fee
• Recovery of costs for material breach
• Guidance is available via HSE’s website
• HSE is working with industry to provide explanation and
advice
FFI IS IN PLACE NOW

30. Corporate Manslaughter
Basic facts
• Only 3 successful prosecutions in 5 years
• Latest case LION steel
• £480,000 fine
• £84,000 costs
• 16 strong legal team including barristers,
solicitors etc
• Directors & Officers Insurance

31. Other Facts
• Last year 63 new investigations were
commenced representing a 40% increase on
the previous year
• A further 56 cases of possible corporate
manslaughter are currently under review by
the CPS
• Over the past 4 years there have been 40
convictions of companies for lesser health and
safety offences involving fatalities.

32. Increase in Cases
7
26
45
63
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2009 2010 2011 2012
Corporate Manslaughter Cases
Corporate Manslaughter Cases

33. H&S Update
• The number of workers killed in Britain last
year has fallen
• 148 workers were fatally injured between
April 2012 and March 2013, compared with
172 in the previous year.

34. H&S Update
RIDDOR changes for October 2013
• The classification of ‘major injuries’ to workers
is being replaced with a shorter list of
‘specified injuries’.
• The existing schedule detailing 47 types of
industrial disease is being replaced with eight
categories of reportable work-related illness.
• Fewer types of ‘dangerous occurrence’ will
require reporting

35. H&S Update
There are no significant changes to the reporting
requirements for:
• Fatal accidents.
• Accidents to non-workers (members of the
public).
• Accidents which result in the incapacitation of
a worker for more than seven days
• £5.9 million saving over 10 years

36. H&S Update
• The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has
launched a consultation on changes to the
content of an Asbestos-related Approved Code
of Practice (ACOP) that will consolidate two
existing documents (L143 & L127)
• HSE have published revised guidance for
employers with health and safety
responsibilities for young people, and in
particular those on work experience.

37. H&S Update
• The HSE are consulting on guidance on how to
comply with the requirements of the
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare)
Regulations 1992. (ends July 30th)
• Removal of strict liability for breaches of
certain health and safety regulations.
• No civil claim can be brought for breach of a
health and safety statutory duty unless the
regulation expressly provides for it

38. Recent Prosecution
Construction company working on a site in Newcastle City Centre
Breached Work at Height Regulations & CDM Regulations
Improvement & Prohibition Notices for welfare facilities
Fined £10000 + £5200 costs

39. Recent prosecutions
Machinery Supplier & Engineering Company Fines over £450000 following the death
of Brian Miller a 38 year old father of 2 who was crushed to death by a hydraulic ram
on a new piece of machinery
Breached H&S at Work Act 1974

40. Questions
Ken Stevens
Jodi Cooling
John Carter