Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007

Now that the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 has been given Royal Assent it will see companies facing prosecution for manslaughter where their gross negligence leads to the death of individuals.

Reform of the law was originally designed to remove the existing need to identify grossly negligent "controlling mind" within an organisation to prosecute for manslaughter

The bill now defines corporate manslaughter as "when management failure by senior managers of a corporation, a Crown body, a police force, a partnership, trade union or employer's association is a substantial element in gross breach of duty to take care causing the death of employees or others".

The bill makes provision for a new offence of corporate manslaughter (to be called corporate homicide in Scotland) and for this to apply to companies and other incorporated bodies, Government departments and similar bodies and police forces.

This means that when the Act comes into force on 6 April 2008 it will:

make it possible to prosecute companies and other large organisations when gross failures in the management of health and safety lead to death;
be clearly linked to existing health and safety requirements. Those who already comply with health and safety law will have nothing to fear.
lift Crown immunity to prosecution. The Act will apply to companies and other corporate bodies, in the public and private sector, Government departments, police forces and certain unincorporated bodies, such as partnerships, where these are employers meaning they will be liable for prosecution for the first time;
remove obstacle to successful prosecutions meaning that both small and large companies can be held liable for manslaughter where gross failures in the management of health and safety cause death, not just health and safety breaches.
rectify a key defect in the present law that means that organisations can only be convicted of manslaughter if a single individual at the very top of the company is also personally liable. This fails to reflect the reality of decision-making in large organisations

So what does it actually mean for you?

Recent research by Croner suggests that 51.4% of businesses are not prepared for the Act and more worryingly 47.9% believe that it is not relevant to them.

It will affect all businesses.

Bond Pearce through the regulatory team are able to give preventative health and safety advice to companies to prepare them for the Act.

We suggest in preparation for the Act a business should:

Obtain and consider all relevant health and safety guidance applicable to their business.
Consider industry standards - what benchmarks are the company working to?
Ensure all risk assessments are up to date and reviewed if there are any changes.
Implement a consistent and documented enforcement regime for health and safety issues. What actually happens to employees when they fail to comply with heath and safety rules? Does the policy state that breach of health and safety rules is considered to be gross misconduct?
Consider what element of the company's budget is spent on health and safety
Review the company's policies and near miss reports and procedures
Review the company's policies and assessments in relation to vehicles and work-related driving
Consider the company's hierarchy and determine who would be considered "senior management" for the purposes of the Act.
Review the company's "safety culture"-regardless of documents, policies and procedures - what happens "on the ground"?
Are employees able to report health and safety concerns confidentially?
Check the extent of the company's insurance cover for criminal costs (both prosecution and defence). Most policies only cover defence costs to the Magistrates Court.
Check the extent of any insurance policies in place covering criminal costs for directors or officers of the company.