News

Companies accused of causing death because of negligence face fines of up to 10% of their turnover under new legislation that came into force this week.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act has been introduced to prosecute firms that fail to take proper safety precautions to protect their staff.

Firms found guilty face fines of between 2.5% and 10% of their turnover, possibly more in the most serious cases, and may also be forced to take out adverts in newspapers publicising their guilt.

However, critics of the new law say it does not go far enough. Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of trade union Unite, said the legislation would exclude individual directors or senior managers from responsibility for health and safety failures that resulted in the death of their employees or members of the public.

More information from http://www.hse.gov.uk/corpmanslaughter/