Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

1.15.2 Legal 
arguments
The legal arguments, concerning the employer’s duty of 
care in criminal and civil law, have been covered earlier.
Some statistics on legal enforcement indicate the 
legal consequences resulting from breaches in health and 
safety law. There have been some very high compensation 

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Introduction to Health and Safety at Work
18
awards for health and safety cases in the civil courts and 
fi nes in excess of £100,000 in the criminal courts. Table 
1.7 shows the number of enforcement notices served over 
a three year period by the HSE. Most notices are served 
in the manufacturing sector followed by construction and 
agriculture. Local Authorities serve 40% of all improve-
ment notices and 20% of all prohibition notices.
Table 1.8 shows the number of prosecutions by 
the HSE over the same three year period and it can 
be seen that approximately 70% of those prosecuted 
are convicted. There was a reduction in the number of 
prosecutions over the three year period but provisional 
fi gures for 2006/07 show an increase of 20% in the 
number of prosecutions. HSE present 80% of the 
Table 1.5
Self-reported work-related illness for 2005/06
Type of Illness 
Prevalence (thousands)
Musculoskeletal disorders of the 
437
back
Musculoskeletal disorders of the 
374
neck or upper limbs
Musculoskeletal disorders of the 
209
lower limbs
Musculoskeletal disorders in
1020
total
Stress, depression or anxiety 
420
Breathing or lung problems 
156
Hearing problems 
68
Other (eg. skin or heart 
294
problems)
Total
1958
Table 1.6
Average annual incidence of new work-related 
illness reported by specialist doctors for 2003–05
Mental Health (stress, anxiety) 
7 200
Musculoskeletal disorders 
6 400
Dermatitis and other skin disorders 
3 500
Respiratory Disease 
3 200
Infections
1 
300
Hearing Loss 
400