Company directors to face greater responsibility for health and safety

(22/08/2007)

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act has finally made it through the UK Parliament after it was almost scuppered by a row over whether deaths in custody should be included. It is now awaiting Royal Assent before its introduction next year.

Fear of prosecution is expected to act as a driver to ensure good health and safety practice throughout the UK, and it should mean a fairer system.

Company directors will face greater responsibility for health and safety than ever when the new offence of corporate manslaughter is expected to be introduced on 6 April next year, says law firm DWF.

The news comes as pressure mounts for more prosecutions of directors under the existing health and safety rules are likely to be stepped up.

Steffan Groch, health and safety partner with DWF, welcomes the new law in principle. He said: “The current system is unfair as it has proved easier to convict smaller companies and their senior staff for manslaughter because lines of control are short and directors more or less have first-hand responsibility. With larger companies, such prosecutions have faltered because responsibilities can be spread over several layers of management, making it difficult to prove that particular individuals were responsible for a death.

“Under the new law successful prosecutions will still require evidence of senior management failure, but it is the company that will be liable, rather than individual directors - although Individuals may still be charged with the existing offence of manslaughter.”

However he stresses: “There needs to be a balance between regulators punishing companies for gross neglect or incompetence and taking positive action to help them manage their risks and prevent injuries and deaths.

“While the government has said the offence will be reserved for the very worst cases we are concerned that investigations following fatal accidents will inevitably be far wider than before, with directors and senior managers being caught up in the spotlight.

“The new offence will lead to the behaviour of management coming under much greater scrutiny than before. On top of this, changes to the Health & Safety Executive's enforcement policy have made it clear that it will consider prosecuting directors for health and safety breaches, while new guidance prepared jointly by the Institute of Directors and the HSE will also lead to more prosecutions against directors.”

Related topics:  Health & Safety legislation 

Print version | Email to a friend | Related articles

Data breaches: Trends, costs and best practices gives you all the latest information on securing personal and corporate data, key recommendations for immediate action to improve data security, and how to respond to data breaches.

Other Security news and resources