Health & Safety Update (March 2009)
"Company Culture" key to Corporate Manslaughter
A top lawyer and leading union officer have warned at a recent
British Safety Council (BSC) conference that Company culture will
be at the centre of any court probe into the first corporate
manslaughter prosecutions.
Directors should be aware that any prosecutions under the new
legislation could find the courts examining the entire safety
culture of a business, and not just the systems and management
processes in place.
Failings of senior management will be seen as a substantial
element of any breach in the duty of care owed by an organisation
to the deceased. The jury will also consider whether there were
attitudes, policies, systems or accepted practices in the
organisation that were likely to have encouraged the failure.
Directors should be able to show that their culture is one of
encouraging optimal safety in addition to rules and policies.
Sir Bill Callaghan, former Chair of the Health and Safety
Commission, recognises that pressure has grown in recent years to
make boards of directors responsible for the consequences of fatal
and serious accidents with calls for further legislation.
Part of the growing pressure for action to be taken against both
the corporate bodies and individual directors is that some
companies have not behaved properly. After a fatal accident there
is a basic human need for the bereaved to have an explanation as to
why their loved one died, an apology and an assurance that what has
happened should not happen to anyone else.
The subject of directors' duties is one of the essential
building blocks of good health and safety, without which there will
be ever increasing workplace injury and ill-health. Good leadership
is imperative. Use your RBS Mentor H&S Management system to
ensure that your organisation is compliant and to promote H&S
within the workplace. Use our 24/7 advice line and the services of
your dedicated Consultant to reinforce the message of good safety
culture within your workplace.