Scotland’s Judges Urged To Link Safety Fines To Share Price

A simple change in the law to vary the powers open to Scottish judges in cases of death or injury at work could dramatically change the climate of corporate responsibility, a member of the Scottish parliament has said.

SNP MSP Bill Wilson this week launched a consultation on a proposed Member's Bill to allow judges to fine companies on the basis of their share price rather than their running costs, and to give courts the power to scrutinise company books.

Mr Wilson, who is backed by corporate accountability and safety campaigns and the Fire Brigades Union Scotland, said he was proposing a minor change to the law in Scotland which could have a major impact because judges currently failed to use their full power to levy swingeing fines for fear that this would be passed on in company closures and redundancies.

A system of 'equity fines' would instead force publicly quoted firms into share issues to pay off fines, which would hit the shareholders and bosses instead of employees and the public.

The MSP said: "Companies found guilty of criminal offences often appear to have only trivial penalties imposed. For example, the fine for criminally causing the death of a worker or member of the public is less than £12,500 in 50 per cent of cases."

Louise Adamson, of Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK), who lost her brother in a workplace tragedy, said:

"We welcome these proposals for equity fines which will lay the punishment for corporate offending at the feet of those who are ultimately responsible - those running the business - and we hope this can form part of a package of measures to improve health and safety."

Ms Adamson said the fine in the ICL/Stockline case amounted to just £50,000 per death, while in England there had been cases involving fines as low as £2 because companies persuaded courts they would be unable to pay. Even in the case of the Transco blast in Larkhall the £15m fine represented just 2 per cent of the company's profit.

Source: TUC Risks

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