HEALTH AND SAFETY (OFFENCES) ACT 2008

That this House notes that each of the 229 workplace deaths in 2008 was a personal tragedy and that the 299,000 injuries at work represent a wholly unacceptable toll; welcomes the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health event on 20 January 2009 to discuss the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 which received Royal Assent on 16 October 2008; recognises that the Act sends an important message to those who break the law, enabling sentences to be set at a level more commensurate with the severity of the offence and to deter those employers who may not otherwise take their health and safety management responsibilities seriously; and urges all hon. Members to support the Act, seeking to help prevent needless work-related injury, ill-health and death for employees and members of the public and to ensure that health and safety offences are treated as seriously as other breaches.