PENALTIES for health and safety offences are getting tougher with fines in the North-East totalling almost £250,000.

The Health and Safety Executive secured 92 convictions in the region, eight of which carried fines in excess of £10,000.

National figures, published in an Offences and Penalties Report for 2001/2002 identified almost 900 companies, organisations and individuals that committed health and safety offences.

The average fine for such cases across Britain has increased by 39 per cent, due to a marked increase in penalties handed down by the higher courts. Four of the convictions in the North-East carried fines well in excess of the £12,194 average.

A construction company in Stockton was fined £15,000 plus costs when a contracted employee was injured when working with a machine. The company was also charged with failing to give adequate information and training to the operator.

A ship building and repair company on Tyneside was also fined £15,000 plus costs following an incident in which an employee suffered multiple injuries following a fall down a stairwell without adequate protection.

Offences in North Yorkshire also attracted hefty fines, with a total of £1.42m in penalties in the Yorkshire and Humberside region.

A sewage and refuse disposal company was fined £15,000 last year when an agency worker had his left arm torn off by a conveyor on waste recycling equipment at a site in York.

Health and Safety Commission chairman Bill Callaghan said: "Health and safety offences are serious crimes and I am very encouraged to see that the average level of fines in 2001/2002 rose by over a third.

"This sends out a strong message to the small minority of employers who do not take their health and safety responsibilities seriously."