It's all gone quiet on corporate killing

In May of last year, Home Secretary David Blunkett announced that a timetable for laws on corporate manslaughter would be published in the autumn of 2003. Safety campaigners were then disappointed when no mention was made of the legislation in the Queen's Speech last November.

A commitment was made shortly after the Queens' Speech to publish a draft Bill by the end of 2003, however since then nothing has been heard on the matter from the Home Office.

Safety campaigners, union leaders and even members of the Opposition have voiced concerns that the Home Office may have been swayed by the views of business leaders over the introduction of the legislation.

Today, a spokeswoman for the Home Office would not be drawn on specific reasons for the delay, other than to tell us that it there were "lot's of issues" and that it was a "complex area of law". She said "no definite decisions" had been made concerning corporate killing legislation in recent months.

However, she added: "We remain hopeful that a draft Bill will be published during the current Parliamentary session."

Why a new law?

At present it is difficult under existing criminal law to prosecute an organisation for manslaughter because the current legal test requires there to be "gross negligence" on the part of a "controlling mind".

A new corporate killing law would allow an organisation to be prosecuted for causing death as a result of serious management failure on the part of the organisation.

However, one area the Government appears to have already backed down over is the criminal liability of individual directors. Last May Mr Blunkett said that this aspect would not be targeted by the legislation.

In its original consultation document the Government appeared to favour the prosecution of directors shown to have contributed to an offence.

Campaigners for the new offence believe that it would make it much easier to punish companies following a fatal accident, in turn leading to greater importance being placed on health and safety.

Control the risks

Norwich Union Risk Services training and consultancy manager, Teresa Budworth, warned that when the Government finally moves ahead with the proposals, they could lead to criminal proceedings being more widely used against companies both large and small.

She told us: "It is usually extremely difficult to pinpoint one individual who is the embodiment of the company and prove he or she is guilty of involuntary manslaughter, particularly within a large organisation.

"The new law would make it easier to establish guilt in relation to a whole company, and easier to bring legal proceedings against an organisation. Small businesses are equally likely to be brought to trial.

She added: "This loophole has allowed tragedies such as the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, the King’s Cross fire and the Clapham rail crash to escape legal action, even though a verdict of unlawful killing was returned.

"We would recommend that all companies consult a competent person to advise them on how to control the risks arising from their activities. Risk assessment is a legal requirement and is a key part of any strategy to prevent accidents at work."

Johnny Thomson