The next step

http www legislation gov uk acts acts2007 ukpga 20070019 en 1

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Corporate manslaughter is here

Big news. On April 6 2008, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (the Act) finally hit the statute book. So what does it mean? Quite simply, if it can be proved that your business is directly responsible for a death, then it can be charged with a new offence of corporate manslaughter.

Why is the Act necessary? Good question. In truth, it only applies to businesses whose negligence has resulted in a death - the number of which is fortunately very few. And then it will only be used if existing health and safety legislation cannot be applied to secure a conviction. So why has it been introduced? Because the government made a post-election pledge to bring in such legislation, and for once it’s been good to its word. So do you actually need to worry about it?

Yes and no. On a day-to-day basis the Act should have no impact on your business whatsoever as it doesn’t impose any new rules or duties on businesses. It has only created a new offence. However, if there’s a death caused as a result of your business activities, it’s now far easier for a business to be prosecuted. In the past, to secure a conviction, it’s been necessary to identify the controlling mind of the business; this is no longer necessary. Now the prosecution will only have to prove that someone in the business was at fault, but they won’t have to identify them. This has often been the stumbling block in the past and has allowed some companies, notably larger ones, to evade prosecution. The main aim of the Act is stop this from happening from now on.

What to do? There’s nothing specific to do. However, we think that it’s a good time to check your safety policy and make sure risk assessments are up-to-date etc.; things that you are likely to be doing already.

The next step

For a weblink to a copy of the Act visit, http://healthandsafety.indicator.co.uk (HS 06.15.01).