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date: Monday 13 June 2005

embargo: For immediate release

Corporate killing bill paves way for more safety prosecutions, says TUC

Although the Government’s draft bill on corporate manslaughter will make it easier to prosecute firms found guilty of safety crimes, individual directors must be made liable for accidents and injuries sustained at work, if there is to be any change in the UK’s poor safety record, the TUC said today (Monday).

Speaking at a TUC/Centre for Corporate Accountability conference on corporate manslaughter, General Secretary Brendan Barber welcomed the recently introduced draft bill on corporate killing. 'By focusing on the wider management failings within an organisation, the draft bill will hopefully make the prosecution of negligent organisations more likely.

'It is important to emphasise that no one is talking about prosecutions for the sake of it, however we do need the threat of prosecutions if corporate responsibility on health and safety is to be improved.

'While we cannot bring back those who have died, we can help prevent the death toll being added to. At the same time it is important that the relatives of those killed as a result of corporate failings see that justice is done. The proposed new legislation will make it possible to prosecute an organisation if there is a gross breach of their duty of care and a senior manager of the organisation knew, or ought to have known, about this breach.'

However, Brendan Barber also called on ministers to make amendments to the current bill, or introduce new legislation to make individual directors liable where their own management failure has resulted in staff being killed or injured at work. 'Under the draft bill only corporations will be able to be held to account. That leads to two problems. The first is that it is not corporations that kill people. A corporation is just a piece of paper. It is actually the decisions of those at the top of organisations, or their lack of actions, that lead to deaths. The other problem is that you can’t put a corporation in prison.

'Either as part of this bill, or separately the Government has to look at the issue of directors’ duties. It is fundamental that criminal liability for management applies not only to the corporate body but also to its owners and directors.'

Brendan Barber reminded delegates of the UK’s abysmal safety record, saying: 'Every year around 250 workers are killed directly as a result of injuries sustained at work. Every one of these deaths is avoidable and according to the Health and Safety Executive well over 80 per cent are a direct result of management failures. There are the other, many thousands, of additional deaths through asbestos, work-related road accidents, long-term chemical exposure and just plain over-work. These are all equally avoidable.

'All in all, work-related injuries and illnesses result in the death of over 10,000 people, force over 25,000 people to give up work and injure over a million people every year.'

Despite the huge price paid by individual workers, the TUC General Secretary said that last year there were only 1,305 company safety convictions, with the average fine standing at just £10,000.

Brendan Barber continued: 'Only five individuals have ever been jailed for a health and safety offence - the last one was in 1999. Now I am not a believer that the answer to all crime is to lock people up but five jail sentences for health and safety offences in 30 years? Something is not right.'

Brendan Barber also called for the penalties that courts can impose on negligent companies to be dramatically increased. 'Where a worker has died and the Health and Safety Executive or local authority have successfully prosecuted the employer for breaking health and safety laws, it is wrong for the employer to escape with a small fine. It suggests that allowing one of your workers to die is no more important than a parking fine or a shoplifting offence.'

'I welcome the proposed legislation. It has been far too long in coming. Most of what has been proposed has a lot of merit but the main problem for us is not what is in the bill, but what is not in the bill. What we need is not just a technical clarification of manslaughter law, what we need is a whole cultural change which actually shows that both the Government and society recognise that working people need justice and protection. A strong framework of laws is the hallmark of a civilised society. While this is one very important step in the right direction, there is still a long way to go.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Brendan Barber’s full speech can be accessed at www.tuc.org.uk/extras/corporatekilling.doc

The TUC/CCA Corporate Manslaughter Conference takes place at Congress House on Monday 13 June 2005. It runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Speakers include Home Office Minister Fiona Mactaggart and Brendan Barber. If you would like to attend contact the TUC press office.

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Press release (1,000 words) issued 13 Jun 2005