Corporate Manslaughter
On 21st July 2006 the Government published a Bill containing a new offence called 'Corporate Manslaughter' in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 'Corporate Homicide' in Scotland. We will update you when the legislation process is finalised, but in the meantime, it is worth starting to consider what constitutes a Corporate Manslaughter offence?
1. An offence is defined as:
An organisation to which the term Corporate Manslaughter applies is guilty of an offence if the way in which any of its activities are managed or organised by its 'senior managers'
(a)Causes a person's death, and
(b)Amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased.
2. For the purposes of the act, a 'senior manager' is defined as:
A person who plays a significant role in:
(a)The making of decisions about how the whole or a substantial part of its activities are to be managed or organised, or
(b)The actual managing or organising of the whole or a substantial part of those activities.
3. What is a 'duty of care'?
An organisation owes a 'relevant duty of care' to employees. This is defined as any of the following duties owed by it under that law of negligence:
(a)A duty owed to its employees or to other persons working for the organisation or performing services for it
(b)A duty owed as occupier of premises
(c)A duty owed in connection with
(i) The supply by the organisation of goods or services (whether for consideration or not)
(ii) The carrying on by the organisation of any construction or maintenance operations
(iii) The carrying on by the organisation of any other activity on a commercial basis
(iv) The use or keeping by the organisation of any plant, vehicle or other thing
4. What would a jury consider in making their judgement?
The jury must consider whether the evidence shows that the organisation failed to comply with any health and safety legislation that relates to the alleged breach, and if so:
(a)How serious that failure was
(b) How much of a risk of death it posed
The jury may also:
(a)Consider the extent to which the evidence shows that there were attitudes, policies, systems or accepted practices within the organisation that were likely to have encouraged any such failure, or to have produced tolerance of it
(b)Have regard to any health and safety guidance that relates to the alleged breach
5. What if the judgement results in conviction?
If an organisation is convicted of corporate manslaughter, the court will:
(a) Impose an unlimited fine
(b) Make an order to the organisation to specify steps which should be taken to remedy:
(i)The breach that lead to conviction
(b)Any matter that appears to the court to have resulted from that breach and to have been a cause of the death.
So what does this mean for organisations? In simple terms, that the consequences for Health and Safety failures will increase further. For more information or for an informal review of your current Health and Safety arrangements contact Laura on on 01494 451681. HR Advantage offers a full range of cost effective and practical Health and Safety support services.
October 2006
