Partner Article

Corporate Manslaughter

With Watson Burton LLP Law Firm

26 July 2007 saw the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Bill gain Royal Assent following over a decade of debate since the P&O Ferries Zebrugge disaster. The Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 (2007 Act), which will come into force in April 2008 will make it easier to prosecute larger corporations for policy failures which in turn lead to death. The 2007 Act will have a noted effect on the necessity for companies to follow strict health and safety procedures.

The problem broached by the 2007 Act is the little acknowledged number of deaths associated with corporate failures: in the last 40 years, 40,000 people have been killed in work-related accidents, or due to work-related illnesses and disease. During that period only 37 companies have been prosecuted for Corporate Manslaughter, and the mere 7 convicted all involved small companies. The remaining failures are punished under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The shortcomings of the previous Corporate Manslaughter Bill lay with the necessity to identify an individual member of senior management to whom the grossly negligent decision causing death could be accredited. This necessity was branded the ‘directing mind’ principle and lead to it being near impossible to secure conviction of medium sized and large companies.

In essence, the 2007 Act embodies the same offence, with one difference: a company can now be convicted if the ways in which its activities are managed at a senior level constitute gross breach of the duty of care owed to employees and customers. In practice, instead of requiring evidence of a decision made at senior management level, a conviction can now be secured through evidence of the company’s health and safety policies, culture and accepted practices.

Fundamentally, the action required by businesses in light of the 2007 Act is to review all health and safety policies, carry out risk assessments, implement staff training and task health and safety policy to senior management. Beyond this, the effect of the act is less clear; only time will tell who is to be classed as ‘senior management’ or where parent and subsidiary companies must delegate health and safety policy making. Primarily, businesses must remember that the 2007 Act will simply make convictions easier without vastly changing the particulars of the manslaughter offence. Companies which lawfully follow health and safety policy and procedure have nothing to fear.

If you have any queries in relation to this article, please contact Nicola Marriott at Watson Burton LLP (telephone 0113 235 5455 or email nicola.marriott@watsonburton.com).

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .