Directors must be liable for work deaths, says TUC
Directors must be liable for work deaths, says TUC
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 has said. Speaking at a joint TUC and Centre for Corporate Accountability conference on corporate manslaughter, general secretary Brendan Barber welcomed the draft bill on corporate killing (Risks 200). '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.' 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.' Barber added: '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.' He said 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.' The consultation period on the government’s corporate killing proposals ended on 17 June.
- TUC news release and TUC corporate safety crimes webpages. CCA news release.
- Centre for Corporate Accountability. Hazards 'deadly business' webpages.
What the others say…
CCA: 'Our records show that since 2001, around 2 or 3 companies are prosecuted each year for manslaughter. Therefore although the numbers of prosecutions will, according to government estimates, more than double, it will do so from a very low base. There is a legitimate concern in our view that the scope of the offence is too narrow - and will not cover deaths resulting from very serious management failures that are not the responsibility of the most senior managers of the organisation, which is what the bill currently requires.'
Amicus: 'Unless high level managers feel the heat of the law against them personally, we do not think there will be a significant change to company behaviour on health and safety… Organisations could also be subject to Corporate Community Service Orders, requiring them to provide health and safety services to workers or to the local community. To put something back into a community, or to families, or to workers, that have been affected by a workplace death or deaths. Another type of order, which exists in the United States, is a Negative Impact Order. This would require a company to pay for prominent advertising informing people that they have been convicted. This is naming, shaming, publicising and then charging! It could be very effective.'
Amicus assistant general secretary Paul Talbot.
CWU: 'The draft bill doesn't propose any sanctions on individual directors and senior managers and we will continue to press the government to change their minds on this crucial point. Either as part of this legislation or alongside the new corporate manslaughter law the government must fulfil their promise given by the deputy prime minister in 2000 to impose statutory safety duties upon directors. Unless both these reforms are made, company directors will continue to escape accountability for both 'manslaughter' and other serious safety failures where in all other respects they are seriously culpable.'
CWU health and safety officer Dave Joyce.
IOSH: 'At present, many larger organisations get away with causing fatalities in their workplaces because you cannot prove ‘a directing mind’. The new bill will remove this obstacle and hit home that serious corporate failures are unacceptable in the modern working world… The corporate manslaughter bill has to be given some teeth - it will not be effective half-baked. It’s bad enough that people do die in the workplace, but allowing those responsible to get away with, in many cases, just a fine is like a slap in the face to the victims.'
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health president-elect Neil Budworth.
ECA: 'We welcome the draft Bill's application to organisations and not to individuals. There is already legislation to prosecute an individual should the need arise. The proposed corporate manslaughter bill looks like a significant improvement on current law. Companies should make a real effort to follow health and safety legislation… In addition to developing this bill, the government needs to start the ball rolling in the European Union to ensure that foreign-based companies can also be properly held to account.'
Stay Updated
Want to hear about our latest news and blogs?
Sign up now to get it straight to your inbox