Corporate Manslaughter Act comes into effect

The Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 has now come into effect making it easier to convict companies of manslaughter if their gross negligence leads to someone being killed.

The new law, effective from 6th April, means companies face unlimited fines if it’s found that they caused death due to gross corporate health and safety failures. Firms can also be ordered to take remedial action to rectify the failures that led to the death.

The court may also order them to publicise the case giving details of what happened and how much they were fined. The damage to a firm’s reputation and brand from such bad publicity could be enormous.

The Government hopes the new law will force company executives to take their health and safety obligations seriously.

The Act removes what used to be a major stumbling block in prosecuting a company for manslaughter. To secure a conviction, it was necessary to prove that all the gross negligence that caused the death could be laid at the door of at least one senior manager or director. This made no allowance for corporate system failures. Indeed, the piecemeal management approach that may have led to the tragedy could be the very same characteristic that prevented prosecution because the responsibility could be shared between several people, none of whom could be singled out as the one guilty of gross negligence.

The Act focuses on failures by senior management but that doesn’t mean that firms could avoid criminal liability by delegating responsibility for safety issues to lower or middle management. In fact, such action could be counter productive as it may be used as evidence of gross negligence in itself.

Directors who are still tempted to cut corners should remember that although the new Act does not increase liability, they can still be held to account as individuals through health and safety laws and the common law of manslaughter.

Firms who haven’t already reviewed their safety policies and management systems for ensuring compliance should consider doing so as soon as possible.