Although the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill looks likely to become law in 2007, companies that comply with existing health and safety legislation have nothing to fear.
Workplace fatalities are not as rare as you might think. According to the Health and Safety Executive, 220 employees died at work and 117 members of the public lost their lives because of work-related accidents in the UK between 2004 and 2005.
Currently, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, employers whose negligence leads to the death of an employee or a member of the public can only be convicted where there is sufficient evidence to prove individual members of the senior management team were guilty. To date, only seven small businesses have been convicted.
See full Report.
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