1 June 2009

First Corporate Manslaughter Prosecution

The first prosecution under the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act which came into force last year, is to be brought against Gloucestershire based Geotechnical Holdings Ltd in relation to the death of an employee in September 2008. Alexander Wright was taking soil samples when the pit that he was working in collapsed.

A company director is also facing a charge of manslaughter by gross negligence and the company a further charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

As a health and safety lawyer with interest, I will be watching to see what happens when the case comes to court. Although the Act itself only applies to companies, this case demonstrates that personal prosecutions against company directors will also be used. The Government has introduced a raft of legislation with the objective of making management liable both collectively and individually, not only for failure to comply with health and safety requirements, but alongside legislation such as the Companies Act 2006 which codifies the directors’ duties. The terms ‘management’ and ‘senior management’ used in the legislation mean that there is scope to take prosecutions against employees of the company as well as directors.

This may be the first prosecution under the new Act, but it will certainly not be the last. The company could receive an unlimited fine under the maximum sentence available, but if the director is found guilty then potentially he could face imprisonment. This is one more way in which it is being demonstrated that the legislation will be used and has teeth, and the combination of charges illustrates that directors cannot hide behind limited liability to avoid carrying out their statutory duties with regards to health and safety legislation.

The company in question runs a small family business, so it should not be assumed that prosecutions will only be taken against large corporations with deep pockets. It should also be noted that prosecutions are not limited to fatalities which occur on the company’s own premises or to its own employees, so adequate steps need to be taken to safeguard company employees who are working off site as well as visitors to the company’s own premises.

The most important thing is to put in place an effective health and safety policy, and to implement it. This may sound obvious, but many companies draw up procedures but fail to implement them due to a variety of reasons, whether due to financial pressure, lack of resource or failure to grasp the importance of having these in place. Unfortunately, none of these is a defence and will not help you avoid prosecution.

Ian Veater
Bright LLP

Ian Veater can be contacted on 01752 764848 or by email to Ian.Veater@Brightllp.co.uk