There are so many businesses operating on a hunch or an assumption about the true workings of health and safety law. But that hunch could prove very expensive, as we see in part two of this article exposing health and safety myths.

Myth Six - Prosecutions for breach of health and safety law are rare

Over the last decade, the statistics are quite astonishing. Between 1999 and 2008, there were 17,094 prosecutions brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) or local authorities for health and safety breaches. Of those 17,094 prosecutions, some 13,570 resulted in convictions, giving a conviction rate of 79 per cent. Over the same period, the HSE and local authorities also issued a colossal 145,105 enforcement notices to businesses.

Myth Seven - Accepting an improvement or prohibition notice has no real consequences

In 1972, the Robens Report - which gave rise to the modern Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 -envisaged an enforcement tool for health and safety inspectors that allowed them to achieve improvements in health and safety without recourse to the courts on each and every occasion. That tool is seen today in the form of an enforcement (improvement or prohibition) notice.

Improvement and prohibition notices are issued on a regular basis by the HSE, but few businesses realise their significance.

First, enforcement notices are also matters of public record.

It is also often argued by the HSE in a prosecution that accepting an enforcement notice is accepting that you have broken the law. If you accept the notice, it is often argued by the prosecution that you accepted the breach of the law.

Finally, and most concerning, the HSE is increasingly trying to bring evidence of previous enforcement notices, sometimes issued years before and often unrelated, in the context of a current prosecution.

Myth Eight - Health and safety is only an issue for the company

The days of only the company being prosecuted are long gone. Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, duties and responsibilities are imposed on directors, managers and employees as individuals. Not only does the employer owe a duty to its employees, the employees owe themselves and fellow workers a duty to take reasonable care for their health and safety.

Myth Nine - We employ professional health and safety consultants so there is nothing to worry about in any event

Many small- and medium-sized businesses engage the services of external health and safety consultants to guide them through the maze of health and safety regulations. Duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 cannot be delegated absolutely to third parties, so engaging consultants is never going to afford a business total protection.

Myth Ten - It is never going to happen to us

Sadly, experience shows that even the most professional, diligent and competent businesses can find themselves unwittingly caught up in a health and safety investigation, and sometimes even a prosecution.

The key to good health and safety management is ensuring that the risks in your business are properly considered and controlled. Your business must have in place a system to ensure that its health and safety arrangements are properly implemented and reviewed on a regular basis.

Ensuring that there is an effective and comprehensive health and safety management system in place will be pivotal in reducing the risks to your business and its employees, but sometimes there are just no guarantees.

Stuart Ponting is a specialist health and safety solicitor with international law firm DLA Piper LLP