A leading employers’ body is calling on companies to make sure that they are adequately protected against claims of corporate manslaughter. EEF, which counts around 400 leading
Yorkshire
companies as members, says that they could face unlimited fines, ‘name and shame’ publicity, and remediation orders.
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 comes into force on 6 April 2008. Once it becomes law, it will only be necessary to prove that a fatality has occurred as a result of ‘serious management failings’. At present conviction is much more difficult. It is necessary to find someone—a director or ‘controlling mind’-- within an organisation guilty of individual manslaughter before a prosecution for corporate manslaughter can proceed.
EEF Yorkshire & Humberside Chief Executive Alan Rowlinson explained what companies needed to do: “The key is to make sure that you have done everything in your power to prevent workplace accidents. The drive for this needs to come from the top—it is a Board responsibility as it is the Board member who could end up in the dock.
He continued: “Have you got formal health and safety management systems? If so, have you checked that they are up to date and that your system for briefing and training staff on their requirements is working properly? If you have not got the systems in place, then you are vulnerable and should act now.”
In order to help companies comply with the new legislation, EEF Yorkshire & Humberside is holding a briefing for companies on 1 April 2008 at its Fieldhead Conference Centre, near Leeds. Among the speakers will be Louise Ward, Health and Safety Adviser for EEF, who worked closely with the Home Office during the development of the Act; and Pam Waldron, Head of Operations at the Health & Safety Executive.