The Director’s Duty?

It’s been a busy few months here at Associated Training & Consultancy so my blog has taken a slightly back seat role. On looking back since my last post there has been many big events, not least the calling of a general election with many of the parties making commitments that will have an impact on health and safety legislation.

A key issue within the industry has been the long running debate over director duties, and this was brought to the fore in a 2009 report by Rita Donaghy (One Death Is Too Many).

This report called for statutory duties on directors, amongst many other recommendations. However, the Government has recently announced that it will not support this recommendation and will investigate the issue further. They commented that “the opinion [is] that there is sufficient legislation already in place, the full impact of which is still to be seen”.

The Government has not ruled out further action including:

• imposing a general duty on directors by way of an amendment to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (a Private Member’s Bill has already been laid to this effect);

• a self-standing regulation made under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, supported by an Approved Code of Practice; and

• reviewing the threshold in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for prosecuting directors and other individuals for health and safety breaches.


So the question to be asked is does the current law encourage top level commitment to health and safety?

There are many who advocate for further duties on directors claiming there will be little further improvement until a new duty is imposed. I fall into the category of people who disagree with this view.

The Health and Safety at Work Act was founded on the principle of effective risk management; the principle of each business identifying and controlling its own risks and setting up its own system of health and safety management.

The way to engage directors with health and safety is not by enforcing further mandatory duties through regulation, but by involving them and by showing the benefits of effective health and safety. This is a view shared by business; a recent Institute of Directors survey found that 60% of businesses now see improvement of health and safety regulation as a key priority. In fact, I would suggest that further regulation would encourage directors to remove themselves from day to day issues rather than engage with them.

So what can be done to engage directors with the health and safety message?

• A key consideration should be training such as the IOSH Directing Safely or IOSH Safety for Senior Executives courses;

• Health and Safety should be considered as a Board level issue – particularly in issues of setting the policy statement (including aims and objectives) and reviewing performance.

• The health and safety performance of the company should be reported to the Board and could be included in company annual reports.

• A non-executive director could be appointed as a “scrutineer” of safety performance.

• Appraisals of senior managers can include an assessment of their contribution to health and safety performance.


The HSE recently published a joint guidance document with the Institute of Directors, and I would strongly suggest all directors receive a copy for their review. It can be downloaded free from the HSE website.

I understand the difficulty some of my health and safety colleagues in industry face – the sometimes difficult challenge of changing the culture of directors. I would simply say that is takes time to change a culture, but it is better to change it positively than try to force through change by regulation which will often be resisted.

If you would like to discuss this article or share with me some good practice please do get in touch.

Mathew Joyes is Head of Risk Management Services at Associated Training and Consultancy, a leading provider of health, safety, environmental and quality management solutions.

All of the entries in this blog provide general advice and should not be interpreted or used as specific health and safety guidance to your organisation – you must always consider your own circumstances and take appropriate action. If in doubt, contact us for professional and specific advice.

Original Article: http://www.associatedtraining.co.uk/blogs/health_and_safety/the_directors_duty.php