You arrived at this page by selecting:Corporate Manslaughter (YEP 20/03/08)
Next month will see a new law brought into force called corporate manslaughter. There has been lots of talk over the years calling for a law of this type and April will see it finally brought in.
So what does it mean and why is there the need for it? Well it means that if a person or persons die as a direct result of the fault of an organisation then the organisation as a whole can be prosecuted.
But do we need it? Well you may recall in recent years various incidents or even disasters that have been flashed across our television screens by various news teams around the country. We have had train crashes to name one example where people have died. When this happens it is only natural that we, as well as the friends and families who have lost loved ones, want to know who is to blame and if it could have been avoided. The media need no invitation to start the ball rolling too and are usually the first to suggest pointing the finger in one direction or another.
But when the story goes out of our living rooms what happens then? The inquiries, and investigations happen and the law does its best to get to the bottom of the issue and apportion blame where necessary. But in large organisations finding one particular person who was directly responsible is very difficult. Just by their sheer size there are many people and departments involved which in turn can dilute the responsibility and therefore it is very difficult to bring a prosecution case against one particular individual.
Corporate manslaughter will mean the company as a whole could be prosecuted. But will this be enough to change behaviour of any unscrupulous companies to make sure their customers will be safe. I don't believe it will. If for example a very profitable but unscrupulous company gets fined £1 million what do you think will happen? The company could stand this, treat it as a corporate expense and the wheels will go in motion for recouping the loss through the business one way or another. This could either come down to cutting costs and potentially reducing standards further or raising the price of their products. Either way the customer loses out again. If the customer is you or me we are effectively picking up the fine ourselves.
I think most companies do their best to ensure the safety of staff and customers however I do believe it should be made easier to prosecute the bosses of the minority who let the rest of us down and do not take adequate care. If there was a good chance of going to jail I am sure standards which affect public safety would work their way higher up the agenda. As it stands now I believe the law will be seen to have blamed someone and done something but in reality some sloppy companies might well brush it under the carpet and set the wheels in motion for re-couping the fine and little will change in the long run.
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