Q. Back in the autumn there was a lot of talk about directors being responsible for corporate manslaughter. What is the current status on this and is it something I need to worry about?
 
Keith Stibbards of ACE writes:

Changes to the law on involuntary manslaughter and the new offence of ‘corporate killing’ have long been on the government’s agenda. In May 2003, the Home Secretary announced that a draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill would be published in April 2004. This will be aimed at corporations themselves rather than individual directors.

Under current legislation, manslaughter against a corporation is proven only where the controlling mind of the organisation – i.e. a director(s) or senior manager – had themselves been grossly negligent, resulting in a death. Directors, as individuals, may also be prosecuted for manslaughter in such circumstances.

There are examples of both types of prosecution in respect of small companies. Prosecuting large corporations and/or directors of large companies presents problems since the operational decisions leading to an incident are usually far removed from the board. This makes it almost impossible to establish gross negligence at a sufficiently senior level.

The new offence of ‘corporate killing’, will be made out where a death is caused by a management failure, which is conduct falling far below the standard reasonably expected in the circumstances. The Health and Safety Executive will undertake investigations and prosecutions, and the maximum punishment will be unlimited fines.

The position regarding prosecution of individual directors will not change. However, the proposed new law will place additional burdens on corporations to comply fully with existing health and safety legislation, and the directors will owe a duty to their respective organisations to minimise the risk of a corporate killing prosecution. A failure to properly manage health and safety issues leading to a prosecution of the corporation could damage its image, business, and share price – which could open up the directors to civil claims.