How the Corporate Manslaughter Act affects businesses

This article was written by Peter Neville, Business Strategy Director, Interchange Group

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, which came into effect in April 2008, heralds a new era for health and safety regulation in the workplace. The Act sets out a new offence for convicting an organisation where a gross failure in the way activities are managed or organised results in a person's death. If found guilty, companies, organisations and government bodies face considerable penalties and individuals potential imprisonment.

This landmark law could have a significant impact on businesses, including those employing remote workers.

In the past, though it has been possible to prosecute an individual director for corporate manslaughter, criminal action against a corporate body has been almost impossible. The Corporate Manslaughter Act makes it easier to convict organisations whose senior managers are found to be in breach of their duty of care and thereby cause a death.

The Act overcomes the barrier of having to identify the ‘controlling mind’ of an organisation. So an organisation can now be found guilty of corporate manslaughter if an organisational or gross management failing causes a fatality. This means that the actions of senior managers below director level could be deemed to be the actions of the organisation.

Employers already have a duty of care, of course, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, to take reasonable steps to protect the health, safety and welfare of their staff. This applies to staff working remotely as well as those following more traditional work patterns.

The new legislation goes further, placing the onus on businesses to ensure that health and safety guidelines are followed and that the relevant policy documents are in place. The mere existence of a safety handbook, however, will not be sufficient defence in law. Companies will have to demonstrate that their policies are enforced and be able to produce appropriate evidence of compliance.

For employees working remotely, including homeworkers, this might include carrying out risk assessments on the premises to identify potential hazards, and ensuring they are trained to use any equipment and that it is maintained correctly.

Remote workers who use their own cars for businesses are also covered by the Act. Businesses will need to implement robust policies to check, for example, that such staff hold valid driving licences and report any accidents, and use vehicles that are well maintained, insured for business use and have valid MOT certificates.

Technology – such as alarms, online monitors and other tracking devices that enable managers to determine the exact location of mobile staff – can be a great help in supporting staff and demonstrating effective corporate compliance.

All organisations should review their health and safety policies in the light of the new Act. Any business that fails to address health and safety performance issues could find itself facing very serious charges.

Key points to remember:

• make health and safety a priority and a central part of your company culture
• ensure senior managers are aware of the implications of the new legislation and understand how it applies to homeworkers, including those using their own vehicles for business
• ensure remote workers are trained to use work equipment and that it is well maintained
• make use of technology in protecting the health, safety and welfare of your staff
• identify areas for risk relating to your remote workforce and address them
• check your health and safety policies are up-to-date, regularly reviewed and, most important, enforced

For more details of the Corporate Manslaughter Act go to http://www.hse.gov.uk/corpmanslaughter/faqs.htm. For more information on mobile and remote working visit http://www.i-working.org/