The corporate killing law, due in six weeks odd, seems to be exciting lots of business activity, but not always for the right reasons it seems. I was talking to a safety product supplier yesterday who said his order books were full and that businesses were upping the level of employee protection "because all these directors are afraid they could end up in prison".
If that's so they needn't worry, the whole point of the law is that it takes away the need to find a guilty person who said "we'll save a bit of money if we stop buying fall-arrest harnesses" in front of witnesses.
If the authorities investigating a fatality find the health and safety structure, systems and training were inadequate the new law allows them to go after a whole organisation. Nobody will go to prison (not for corporate manslughter, anyway).
But what directors should be fretting about, and are in big busineses, is the level of fines that could be imposed if a corporate killing charge sticks. The sentencing guidelines for judges are still to be finalised, but the recommendation from the Sentencing Advisory Panel is for fines up to 10% of turnover, which is enough to make your average executive board's eyes water.
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There is a large amount of confusion and a fair bit of scaremongering going on regarding the Corporate Manslaughter Act. The companies I spoken to recently range from total ignorance to total panic, with a few in the middle. I can only advise on my own sector which is work-related road safety. Organisations of all sizes need to look at their policies and update them or if they haven't got any do so quickly. They need to look at the Driver-The-Vehicle-The Journey as the three main planks. Anyone need help let me know
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