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Henry Mooney
Member - 4 posts
When I studied for my NEBOSH and Diploma qualifications in H&S, I was required to sign an agreement that, should I move on within two years, then I would be liable for a percentage of the course costs, depending on when I left. This policy had been in place for many years, and still is.
Accreditation (and re-accreditation) training in issues such as manual handling etc is also paid for by my employer to maintain my ability to deliver in-house courses, and no charge is made to an employee who undertakes such courses.
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Henry Mooney
Member - 4 posts
I don't think that there is any doubt that a risk assessment of the premises, carried out by a competent person, would have identified the stairway as a hazard and recommended appropriate preventative measures. Therefore a breach of H&S has occurred.
I do wonder, however, if this had been a council school, how easy would it have been for a successful prosecution? A head teacher could claim that council H&S audits did not indicate a problem, that (s)he did not receive appropriate training, or that there had never been a similar incident in the past to raise concerns. Would HSE have been able to charge council H&S officers or Mr A.N.Other successfully?
Will the Corporate Manslaughter / Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (coming into effect next April) encourage them to look further into councillor's business responsibilities should a similar incident occur after April6 2008? Or is it likely that diffusion will be such that no individual will be charged?
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Henry Mooney
Member - 4 posts
Having just registered with this website, I am intrigued with this story. I assume that the lady concerned has had her baby, and the situation resolved one way or another. Does anyone know the answer? How did it work out? What actions were taken? Disciplinary actions, or mutual agreement? Did the company survive?
Kara Gerrie's points (May 2006) on H&S legislation re risk assessments were very valid, too, and I wonder did it help at the time to point a way forward?
I also sympathise with John Simpson's (December 2006)"positive discrimination" complaint, but feel that the weight of PC correctness would not allow such sentiments to rule, however justified John (and others) might feel.
So, to my original question - what happened?
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