Speaking in Parliament, Prime Minister Robert Abela announced that new stricter regulations on Health and Safety in the workplace would see an increase in enforcement officers and a prison sentence and harsher fines for anyone flouting the law.
Among the changes are stiffer penalties for not following regulations.
Penalties have not changed in more than 20 years. Under these new regulations criminal and administrative fines will be harsher to prevent the attitude that one can just paya fine rather than doing things by the book. The minimum criminal fine will be €1,500 which can go up to a maximum of €50,000 which today is slightly more than €11,000. In more serious cases there is a maximum of two years in jail. If there is a second breach of the law the penalty goes up from a minimum of one year to a maximum of four years. For administrative shortcomings the fine will go up from €500 as it is today to €20,000.
Photo. ONE News
