The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act is in the news again.
This time it is the culmination of years of discussion and debate – first about the Act itself, what it should cover and to whom it should apply – then about the penalties that should be imposed.
The Act was brought in after public outcries about such major tragedies as the capsizing of the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry outside Zeebrugge the Bradford City fire and the rail disasters at Southall and Paddington. The law was unable to convict any person or organisation in regard to these accidents.
The first case under the new Act has now been brought to court and judgement made.
This first case is not on the same scale as the major disasters of past years, but it resulted in the death of a young man, which is every bit as devastating for his family, his colleagues and others who knew him.
What lessons can we all learn from this case?
In brief, an organisation found guilty of an offence under the Act will be fined. The level of fine depends on a number of factors but the guidelines indicate that it will rarely be less than £500,000. In addition, a publicity order will be imposed in most cases. However, in the early days, it has been suggested that media interest is likely to have a bigger impact on an organisation’s reputation than the publicity order itself.
It’s worth noting that even now, the guidelines only relate to England and Wales rather than the whole of the UK.
You can view the Sentencing Guidelines on the government website at
http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov.uk/docs/guideline_on_corporate_manslaughter.pdf
The government also issued a press release that describes the main points. You can read this at:
First Case
The first fatal accident to be subject to the Corporate Manslaughter Act occurred in September 2008 when a young geologist was killed whilst taking soil samples in a pit. The sides of the pit collapsed and killed the young man.
We published information about this case in another article that you can read at:
http://www.edp-uk.com/newsletters/corporate_manslaughter_charge.htm
With the introduction of the sentencing guidelines, the scene was set for this case to be heard in court on Tuesday 23rd February 2010.
In the event, the case was adjourned for legal arguments until Friday
Whatever the eventual outcome, the first case under the Corporate Manslaughter Act should be a wakeup call to every organisation to take Health and Safety seriously.
In recent months the whole area of health and safety has been receiving considerable bad press. In fact, most of this criticism has been unfairly targeted at the legislation rather than the misunderstandings and sometimes even lack of common sense on the part of those whose job it is to implement health and safety arrangements.
The Health and Safety executive has been at pains to expose many of the scare stories for the myths that they are. Real health and safety is about saving lives and preventing the devastation that comes to families through serious accidents that could be prevented with a little forethought.
We strongly recommend, therefore, that companies and organisations should take the opportunity for a thorough review to ensure their health and safety policies, procedures and arrangements are fit for purpose.
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