Health and safety compliance … corporate manslaughter
Earlier this year the first company was found guilty ofcorporate manslaughter under the changed law. It was subsequentlyfined £385,000. The Crown Prosecution Service has recentlyannounced a second prosecution and have charged a company withcorporate manslaughter following the death of an individual whofeel through a fragile roof panel. The CPS has decided also thatthree of the Company Directors should be charged individually withgross negligence manslaughter. The company is also charged withbreaching s2 of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 forfailing to ensure the safety at work of its employees. The threeDirectors are also charged under s37 of the same Act for allegedlyallowing the company to commit the offence with their consent orconnivance or neglect.
This is likely to prove a protracted case. It remains to beseen whether the case will shed more light on how the CorporateManslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 should be interpretedsome three years after this became law.
This article is for general guidance only. It provides useful information in a concise form. Action should not be taken without obtaining specific legal advice.