Health & Safety News Brief
Occupational Health & Safety Information Service
Hatfield: Court gives out the wrong message, says IOSH
Reacting to the decision by the Court of Appeal to reduce Balfour Beatty’s fine for its failings in the Hatfield rail disaster, IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) President, Neil Budworth, said: “This reduction sends out totally the wrong message about the importance of good health and safety.
“To a big company like Balfour Beatty, £7.5m is nothing more than a slap on the wrist. As this case is what the original judge called “one of the worst examples of industrial negligence” he’d ever seen, we believe this reduced fine is nowhere near big enough.
“If we are to stop people dying on the railways, or in workplaces, we need the courts to start treating health and safety offences with the punishment they deserve. IOSH believes a
new Corporate Manslaughter law, coupled with legally binding directors’ duties, will provide the mechanism for more appropriate punishments and justice for victim’s families.”
Paul Marston
Media Officer
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
The Grange, Highfield Drive, Wigston, Leicestershire, LE18 1NN, UK.
Tel: +44 (0) 116 257 3100
Fax: +44 (0)116 257 9141
www.iosh.co.uk