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Sanctions including far-reaching improvement orders, substantial fines, court-ordered publicity and in the worst of cases, suspension of all or part of the Board of Directors, should all be at the court's disposal when sentencing for corporate manslaughter or homicide, in force next month.
 Ray Hurst, president of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) said:
"Our focus here is on prevention and protecting lives. We’re keen that those organisations found guilty of this grave offence are required to make the fundamental changes needed to improve their leadership, systems and cultures."
In its recent response to the Sentencing Advisory Council consultation on the sentencing for corporate manslaughter and homicide, IOSH has suggested wide-ranging remedial orders, possibly including:
- the compulsory training or retraining of directors and senior managers in the management of occupational safety and health
- the introduction of a behavioural safety programme
- the use of third-party audits and access to competent health and safety advice
- and if necessary, requiring the suspension of all or part of a board or governing body of a convicted organisation.
Ray Hurst explained:
"Poor practices and behaviour patterns may have developed over several years and long-term commitment is required to bring about a reversal in this. Some fairly radical measures may be needed, for example, where there have been extreme cases of collective senior management failure, the courts may consider it’s in the best interest of public and employee health and safety for all or part of the Board to be suspended. In such situations, alternative governance arrangements will be needed to ensure the safe operation of the organisation."
In addition to wide-ranging remedial orders, progress against which should be reported to stakeholders, and also to adverse publicity orders, IOSH has agreed with the proposed range of fines up to and beyond 10% of annual turnover, depending on circumstances; and also that there should be a minimum fine level, suggesting 2.5% of annual turnover."
Ray closed saying:
"Where failings of senior management have led to deaths, we must all look very closely at what went wrong and learn lessons. Sentencing can be a useful tool for achieving improvements far wider than in just the convicted organisation itself."
The IOSH response on the Sentencing for Corporate Manslaughter can be viewed here
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act comes into force on 6 April 2008.
Source: IOSH news release
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