After the recent rail crash tragedies, the new offence of corporate manslaughter in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (corporate homicide in Scotland) has been included in the long-awaited new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill now before the House of Commons.

Under the new Bill, organisations, whose senior managers fail to maintain operations in such a way that a gross breach of that organisation’s duty of care results in death, risk unlimited liability in the event of a fatal incident. This has generally been a welcomed development but there have been warnings that health and safety obligations could be delegated in response to the focus being on the failure of the duty of care responsibilities by a company’s senior management.

At the present time individual directors would still not be personally liable; corporate manslaughter charges against Network Rail and Balfour Beatty management resulting from the Hatfield rail crash were unsuccessful last year. However, the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health advocates a new Approved Code of Practice (ACoP), covering director’s responsibilities for the health and safety operation of organisations which would complement the new Corporate Manslaughter Bill.

Editorial Assistant ERA Technology:
Tel. +44 (0) 1372 367486 E-mail. safety.emc@era.co.uk