November 7, 2005—The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published its sixth annual Offences and Penalties Report 20/a> on October 20. The publication is only accessible online.
HSE’s Acting Chief Executive Justin McCracken commented, “This year’s figures show we have prosecuted in fewer cases and served fewer notices than in previous years. We have identified two major factors behind the drop. One is the steady decline in the number of accidents and ill health reported to us, the other is our better targeting of resources to investigation. We are investigating fewer incidents, but a greater proportion of these are leading to prosecution.”
In 2004-05, HSE brought 712 prosecutions securing convictions in 95% of cases, and served 8445 enforcement notices. The average fine per case rose to 18,765 from 14,303 in 2003-04. Average fines from higher courts, per offence prosecuted, rose to 46,388 from 32,216 in 2003-04, and average fines in the lower court rose to 4,767 from 4,052 the previous year.
