Legislation Tracker April 2016
Lead
Dept.
HSE
Title of Measure
The Control of Electromagnetic
Fields at Work Regulations 2016
Purpose of Measure
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are currently
consulting on draft proposals for The Control of
Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations 2016.
Date the
measure is due
to come into
force
1 July 2016
Concerning Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) from
electrical appliances: from work processes such as
radiofrequency heating, welding and drying, from
radio, TV and telecoms’ broadcasting masts and
security detection devices.
MOJ
Health and Safety Offences,
Corporate Manslaughter and Food
and Hygiene Offences Guideline
2016. (Sentencing Guidelines)
These requirements must be transposed and
implemented by law across all Member States by 1
July 2016.
The Sentencing Council’s new guidelines aim to ensure
a consistent approach to health and safety, corporate
manslaughter, and food safety and hygiene cases, and
will lead to a more severe response to these cases, and
potentially higher fines.
Different fine ranges will apply depending on the size
of the organisation. However it’s entirely possible that
the fines could be of sufficient size to put an
organisation out of business, which may be decided to
be an acceptable consequence, if the offence is severe
enough.
Impact
The most notable impact of the new regulations
will be a specific requirement on employers (UCL)
to assess the levels of EMFs to which their workers
may be exposed, against Action Levels and
Exposure Limit Values.
Safety Services will provide further guidance in due
course.
1 February 2016
Directors who are found guilty of “consent,
connivance or neglect” in relation to an offence
could face unlimited fines, as well as up to 2 years
in prison.
Serious health and safety breaches could result in
fines exceeding £10million, and corporate
manslaughter cases could exceed £20million.
The sentencing guideline applies to all
organisations and offenders sentenced on or after
1 February 2016 irrespective of when the offence
was committed. This marks a significant change in
how those guilty of health and safety offences will
be penalised by the courts. The sentencing
guidelines state that the fine must be sufficiently
substantial to have a real economic impact which
will bring home to both management and
shareholders the need to comply with health and
safety legislation. Health and safety offences are
concerned with failures to manage risks to health
and safety and do not require proof that the
offence caused any actual harm. The offence is in
creating a risk of harm.
The Lifts Regulations 2016
The new EU lifts directive affecting lift safety rules and
regulations is set to come into effect on April 20, 2016.
20 April 2016
Duty holders must ensure they are aware that new
and upgraded lift installations must be formally
inspected and certified accordingly before allowed
to start being used.
If any installation fails to meet the new standards,
the lift cannot be operated.
UCL Estates are responsible for implementing these
changes.