CWU Responds To Consultation On Sentencing for Corporate Manslaughter

Employers will soon face unlimited fines, adverse publicity orders and far-reaching remedial action orders when sentencing for corporate manslaughter or homicide comes in to force next month on 6 April. The Courts will also have the additional power to disqualify directors and senior executives from company directorship for health and safety offences if convicted of corporate manslaughter.

National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce said "The CWU's main focus has been on the prevention of accidents and protecting the lives of our members. The CWU has campaigned for over a decade for a specific offence of corporate manslaughter and we welcome the enactment of this new legislation at last. The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act is a wake-up call for all employers, company bosses and organisations and the new law will be a powerful deterrent to those employers failing to meet the proper standards of health and safety and safe working practices."

In the CWU's recent response to the Sentencing Advisory Council consultation on the sentencing for corporate manslaughter and homicide, the CWU called for a range of tougher penalties, higher fines, remedial orders and director disqualifications to be handed down by the Courts to convicted offenders.

"The government must deliver their promise to rebalance the Law in favour of the victims and the community" said Dave "The current Penalties regime often has little preventive impact and the voluntary guidance for directors published by the Institute of Directors and the Health and Safety Commission will not on its own motivate the necessary changes in the boardroom that are required to revive the health and safety culture on the shop floor. Hopefully this new Law will change all that."

"On the issue of Director and board member disqualifications and suspensions Dave added "Directors and Senior Managers are the key decision makers and the people with the most power. They can not be allowed to legally insulate themselves from what is going on in the organisation."

Around 1,500 Directors are disqualified for periods of 2 - 15 years in the UK every year for various financial irregularities, wrongful trading, taxation offences and insolvency offences and breaching a disqualification order leads to imprisonment for up to 2 years or a fine or both.

Dave added "The same needs to now apply following convictions for serious health and safety offences in connection with death at work or major injury. Those organisations found guilty of this serious offence will have to make major changes to their health and safety organisation, management and safety culture."

The CWU has called for fines to be a minimum of 10% of annual turnover. 

Dave closed saying: "The HSE estimates that over 80% of injuries are a direct result of management failures. This means that the vast majority of deaths are simply down to management breaking health and safety laws. The same is true of the 2.2m people who are suffering from an illness they believed was caused or made worse by their work. To me this is a crime wave on a massive scale. A crime wave that screams out for action. Evidence shows the most effective way to change behaviour is strong enforcement action, supported by advice and guidance. Where the failure of management has led to workers deaths, there must be a close examination of what went wrong and learn lessons. Sentencing will be a powerful tool for achieving improvements far wider than in just the convicted organisation itself."

The CWU response on the Sentencing for Corporate Manslaughter can be viewed as a pdf file here

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