Fines under fire as courts crack down on corporate breaches

Health and safety leaders at very large organisations are facing a new reality – tougher, potentially eye-watering fines for breaches. From 1 June, the Sentencing Council’s updated guidelines allow courts to go beyond existing fine bands when sentencing companies with turnover well above £50m.

The shift aims to correct inconsistent outcomes under the 2015 regime, which critics say allowed similar cases to attract vastly different penalties. Now, with clearer direction to scale fines appropriately, courts can push further to ensure sentences are proportionate to both the offence and the offender’s financial weight.

For C-suite executives, this signals growing regulatory appetite for meaningful deterrents – and greater scrutiny over corporate accountability, especially in health and safety, environmental and food-related offences.

Read the full article to understand how these changes could impact your risk profile.