Corporate killing legislation delayed

The proposed new law on corporate killing will be delayed until at least 2002, according to press reports today. The law would have made it much easier to successfully prosecute directors for deaths caused by management failure.

Current legislation makes it difficult to prosecute a company, because the court has to show that a single individual was directly responsible for the death. Because of this there have only been three successful prosecutions resulting in jail sentences, all of them against small companies where it is much easier to identify a "controlling mind".

The new legislation will simply require the court to identify management failures that led to the fatality. The government are sure that the threat of prison sentences for directors is the only way to make organisations take their legal health and safety responsibilities seriously. One of the reasons for the delay, though, is the concern that the legislation might lead to a blame culture.

Recent tragedies - such as the Hatfield train crash - have inevitably heightened calls from the public to make companies more responsible for deaths that could have been prevented. Of the 21 companies prosecuted after fatal accidents under existing health and safety laws this year, the combined total fine is just £35,400.

This legislation was to be a major part of the government's new raft of health and safety laws to be introduced next year. Despite the delay, the government have reinforced their will to carry the legislation through and will still increase the fines available under existing legislation in 2001.
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