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At Liverpool Crown Court QE2 Court, Derby Square, Liverpool 10am 2nd June Trial of NW Aerosols 2nd and 3rd June, Liverpool Crown Court Outside Liverpool Crown Court on Monday 2nd June, FACK and Liverpool Trades Council will hold a vigil for Christopher Knoop who was killed and his three colleagues who were severely injured by a blast at NW Aerosols in December 2005. NW Aerosols are being prosecuted at Liverpool Crown Court by the HSE for two breaches of Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act – failure to maintain safe plant and failure to provide instruction, training and supervision. However, none of the directors of the company will be in court. They have put the company into liquidation and have not attended any of the court hearings. If the company is found guilty of these offences, a fine may be imposed but as the company is in liquidation it will never be collected. A spokesperson for FACK said: “FACK will be at the court to show our support for the families of Christopher Knoop and those who were injured. This is a very serious case of employer’s negligence that killed a man and very seriously injured three others. Lives have been wrecked by criminal behaviour because that is what breaking health and safety law is: criminal behaviour. Yet amazingly after killing a man and wreaking havoc on the lives of three others and all their families, the directors of the company can simply put the company into liquidation and walk away! It is almost beyond belief that this can truly happen in the 21st Century. If they had hurt or killed the factory cat they could be facing charges and custodial sentences for animal cruelty, but for killing a worker and injuring others, employers in this country can simply get off scot free.” The Directors can do this because there are no legal duties on directors for health and safety, the duties are on the company so they liquidate the company and solve the problem. FACK, the Hazards Campaign and trade unions have been calling on the government to place legal duties on directors for health and safety for many years so that, as in this case, they could be held legally accountable and if found guilty they would face prison sentences. Despite promises, all we have are voluntary codes and voluntary guidance, and now an inadequate new Corporate Manslaughter Act LInzi Herbertson, Founder member of FACK says: “We would like the judge to impose a fine on this company if convicted, to act to disqualify the directors from holding office ever again. We call on the government to act now to remedy this absolutely intolerable situation where killing a person goes unpunished: make directors legally responsible for the health and safety in their companies, stop giving employers a free ‘get out of jail’” Mr. Marc Hodson, Secretary of Liverpool Trades Council said " Had Mr. Knoop been the victim of a fatal stabbing or shooting, charges would have been brought to enable the courts to issue extradition warrants for any one found guilty of the offence" He added "This is just another example of Industrial Prejudice where someone is killed and the legal mechanism totally fails the delivery of justice because the victim was employed at the time of the incident [killing]" Christine Standing Fack Member says: “Where is the best place to get away with murder? The workplace. If the government does nothing now, then they are condoning killing without punishment and no workers will be safe.” Source: GM Hazards
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