Programme Aims, Objectives And Outline Content

The programme aims to equip senior executives with an understanding of the liabilities created by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 together with the practical implications for the strategic safety management processes in their organisation.

Objectives

On successful completion of the programme delegates will be able to:

• Understand the liabilities created by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 in the context of other key health and safety legal obligations and the practical implications in terms of:

·        Their role and responsibilities with respect to health and safety at work.

·        The importance of integrating health and safety objectives into other key business performance objectives and good corporate governance.

·        The need to incorporate health and safety issues into business planning and decision-making.

·        The need to develop and implement an effective health and safety management system, including performance monitoring and continual improvement

·        The importance of developing a positive safety culture to reduce unsafe behaviour and the key role that senior executives play in that process.

Outline Content

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and other relevant criminal and civil law 

-          Explanation of the liabilities created by the Act together with a summary of some other key corporate and personal responsibilities for health and safety under criminal and civil law

-          law exercise  

• Business risk management and safety
  -          Corporate governance, risk management and loss control
  -          The Turnbull Report
  -          HSC/IOD Directors guidelines
  -          The costs of accidents and incidents at work
   
• Accident causation
  -          Accident causation models
  -          Organisational factors in accident causation
   
• Safety management systems
  -          Management system models – HSG65, BS8800, OHSAS18001
  -          Summary of key practical elements
  -          The role of risk assessment
  -          Performance monitoring and target setting
  -          Training and competence
  -          Management systems gap analysis exercise

• Safety culture
  -          Concept and importance
  -          The links between culture and behaviour
  -          Developing a positive safety culture
  -          Safety culture SWOT analysis exercise

A new In-House course available from JPD for your organisation.  Prior to the training an initial meeting on site with relevant management is required to identify the following:

• The nature of the companies business
• The materials that the company handles and the processes it operates
• The requirements of the company management, who it is aimed at and for what purpose
• The level, position and responsibilities of the personnel requiring the training.
• Timescales, venues and number of potential course attendees.

COSHH element
• Current applicable regulation
• Safety training on the materials in use
• Prevent or control
• Assessment of hazard and risk in handling the materials
• Control of hazards and risks
• Monitoring to ensure compliance
• Documentation systems inc labelling
• Accidents and incidents, investigation and reporting
• Training and supervision

Environmental element
• Potential environmental hazards and impacts of material used within the workplace
• Control and mitigation of those hazards and impacts
• Waste generation
• Disposal routes
• Methods of reduction

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (Commencement No.1) Order 2008 has been made (14th February 2008) and brings into force from 6th April 2008 the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (with the exceptions of section 2(1) (d) (duty owed to a person in custody etc. to be a relevant duty of care) and section 10 (power to order conviction etc. to be publicised).
Under The Act, companies and organisations can be found liable for a work-related death if actions at a senior level amount to gross breach of a duty of care to the deceased following a systemic failure to manage safety within the business. This new offence is to be known as corporate manslaughter in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and corporate homicide in Scotland.
Courts will look at management systems and practices across the organisation in a new test to provide a more effective means for prosecuting the worst corporate failures in health and safety management.

The full text of the 2008 Order can be accessed from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080401_en_1

The full text of the 2007 Act can be accessed from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2007/ukpga_20070019_en_1

Source: www.opsi.gov.uk (accessed 03/04/08)

See our new training courses for corporate manslaughter
http://www.jpd.co.uk/intouch/2008/05/14/new-course-corporate-manslaughter-the-new-act-and-the-practical-implications-for-strategic-safety-management/

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, which have been in force in other industry sectors since April 2006, are set to cover the music and entertainment sectors from 6 April 2008 in order to protect workers from exposure to excessive noise. The two-year transitional period was allowed to the music and entertainment sectors in recognition that music is unusual as it is noise deliberately created for enjoyment meaning practical guidelines were necessary to help workers, employers and freelancers in the music and entertainment sectors protect their hearing and safeguard their careers. This guidance, called Sound Advice, will be available from July 2008.

The sectors defined as being music and entertainment in the Regulations cover all workplaces where: a) live music is played or b) recorded music is played in a restaurant, bar, public house, discotheque or nightclub, or alongside live music or a live dramatic or dance performance. Employers in these sectors will be required to manage the risk to their employees and, where possible, freelancers, and to control, reduce and monitor exposure to noise with controls, many of which are simple and cost-effective.

The full text of the Regulations can be accessed from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051643.htm
Further information is available from:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/musicsound.htm

Source: www.opsi.gov.uk  and www.hse.gov.uk ((accessed 03/04/08)

If you are a farmer or land manager in Scotland, you need to comply with new regulations to control diffuse pollution. The regulations introduce new rules to protect the water environment from diffuse pollution and allow alternative ways of disposing of certain types of slurry and silage effluent.

The new regulations make changes to the general binding rules (GBRs) that control the impact of diffuse pollution on the water environment from activities on rural land.

The regulations add new GBRs relating to:

The GBRs introduce a simple set of rules for controlling diffuse pollution. As long as you comply with these rules, you won’t need to complete any forms or seek authorisation from SEPA. 

You can now use alternative methods to dispose of certain types of slurry and silage effluent, also known as ‘dirty water’. You can now drain and treat dirty water run-off from certain areas through a constructed farm wetland. These wetlands must sufficiently treat the dirty water before you can discharge it without damage into the water environment.

The full text of the Regulations can be accessed from:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2008/ssi_20080054_en_1

Source: www.opsi.gov.uk  (accessed 03/04/08)

From the 6th of April 2008, all construction projects in England costing over £300,000 (for new build, maintenance, alteration or installation/removal of services such as sewerage, water) will need a Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) under The Site Waste Management Plans Regulations 2008 which were made on 8 February 2008. The purpose of a SWMP is to ensure that building materials are managed efficiently, waste is disposed of legally, and that material recycling, reuse and recovery is maximised.
The Regulations are to be enforced by the Environment Agency and the local authorities. The SWMP must be updated in accordance with the Regulations, with different, more detailed, requirements for projects costing more than £500,000.
Breaches of the Regulations can be punishable:
(a) on summary conviction, by a fine of up to £50,000, or
(b) on conviction on indictment, by a fine.

The full text of the Regulations can be accessed from:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080314_en_1

Further information and guidance is available from:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444304/502508/1952646/?version=1&lang=_e&lang=_e

Source: www.opsi.gov.uk  (accessed 03/04/08)

The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) Northern Ireland has embarked on an ambitious programme of Better Regulation initiatives, to modernise and simplify regulation for businesses and achieve better standards for the environment.
Better Regulation is a significant change in approach geared towards delivering effective environmental protection and broad stakeholder buy-in. EHS is fully committed to applying the principles of better and effective regulation to all aspects of its work.
Regulation which is easier to understand will be easier to adhere to and implement, making the regulatory experience more effective for everyone involved.   By improving awareness, compliance assistance, through effective and consistent enforcement, and by simplifying permitting and data returns, EHS will be able to provide a more balanced and integrated system.
The EHS Position Statement on Better Regulation - “Better Regulation for a Better Environment - EHS Better Regulation Programme” - outlines EHS approach to simple and effective regulation and the key initiatives to be taken forward. 
EHS invites comments on this approach from those they regulate and from other stakeholders to help progressively improve the regulatory systems.

The full text of the programme can be accessed from:
http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/ehs_better_regulation_programme_-_web_version.pdf
Source: www.ehsni.gov.uk  (accessed 03/04/08)

Defra is seeking views on draft Joint Waste Authorities (Proposals) Regulations 2008 and draft Guidance on proposals for Joint Waste Authorities in England.
Government introduced powers to establish joint waste authorities in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. This provides local authorities with another model for partnership working - one which allows them to put the partnership on a statutory footing. The powers allow two or more local authorities to submit proposals to the Secretary of State to transfer one or more of their waste functions (waste collection, waste disposal and/or street cleansing) to a new joint waste authority. Under the Act, the Secretary of State may make Regulations to make provisions as to matters to be included in a proposal and information that must accompany a proposal. The Secretary of State may also issue guidance as to what a proposal should seek to achieve and matters that should be taken into account in formulating a proposal. Local authorities will be obliged to have regard to any such guidance issued by the Secretary of State in making their proposals. Views are now being sought on draft Regulations and draft guidance.
The consultation will close on Monday 9 June 2008.

The full text of the consultation can be accessed from:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/jwa/consultation.pdf

Further information about the consultation is available from:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/jwa/index.htm

Source: www.defra.gov.uk  (accessed 03/04/08)

This consultation, presented by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of the Environment Northern Ireland, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government, ask for view on proposed amendments to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007.
It discusses proposals to revise requirements regarding evidence of broad equivalent conditions for export reprocessing sites, and on the partial Impact Assessment which supports the proposals.
This consultation explores how to:
1. Facilitate the achievement of the recycling targets for 2008 and subsequent years for waste metal packaging by making sure that as much of the material reprocessed in facilities outside the EU which operate under “broadly equivalent” conditions as possible can be counted against the UK target;
2. Keep the cost of compliance for metals packaging producers to a manageable level;
3. Safeguard the environmental standards enshrined in Article 6(2) of the Packaging Directive.
Responses should be received no later than 29 April 2008.

The full text of the consultation can be accessed from:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/metalwaste-reprocess/consultation.pdf
 
Further information about the consultation is available from:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/metalwaste-reprocess/index.htm
Source: www.defra.gov.uk  (accessed 03/04/08)

These Regulations amend the Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Crops, Food and Feeding Stuffs) (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 in order to transpose Commission Directive 2007/73/EC amending certain Annexes to Council Directives 86/362/EEC and 90/642/EEC as regards maximum residue levels for acetamiprid, atrazine, deltamethrin, imazalil, indoxacarb, pendimethalin, pymetrozine, pyraclostrobin, thiacloprid and trifloxystrobin.

These Regulations substitute maximum residue levels for certain pesticides in Schedule 2 to the 2005 Regulations.

The full text of the Amendment can be accessed from:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080665_en_1

Source: www.opsi.gov.uk  (accessed 03/04/08)