Safe as houses?

Could your business be affected by the Corporate Manslaughter Act?

Free guides

Editor's Choice

Have you taken on board the full implications of the Corporate Manslaughter Act? If not, you might be surprised by just how much your business is at risk

Few employers are fully aware of the possible ramifications of the Corporate Manslaughter Act (CMA), although they should be. The new law means that if an employee is killed at work, the business as a whole can be charged and prosecuted if found to be negligent. There’s no need to find the individual responsible and the financial penalties for corporate manslaughter are uncapped. However, the act’s remit extends beyond the office, as ‘the workplace’ also includes cars and homes if work is carried out there. We spoke to Simon Large, a senior underwriter at insurance company Premierline, to get his take on how the act affects home working.

Could a business really be prosecuted because an employee is killed at home during work hours?

Technically, yes. However, I think it would have to be an extreme circumstance and be a very serious breach of duty of care. Most home workers tend to do clerical jobs and are just sitting at a desk, so there is less risk. But there are companies where an employee manufactures a product on their own premises, and so there could be greater danger involved in such a situation.

How aware are companies of the CMA?

The level of knowledge among businesses about the legislation appears to be negligible. I am not aware of the government sending out instructions to employers about the CMA, so I would imagine that the understanding of companies is probably quite low, to be honest.

How aware are businesses of their duty of care?

Once again, I would say that they are not very aware. One part of my job is to review the survey reports we carry out on the businesses that we are looking to cover. When they come back it is surprising how many haven’t even carried out risk assessments and don’t have health-and-safety policies.

A lot of businesses will use consultants to improve their health and safety, but these can be very expensive and beyond the reach of some companies. The surveyors should give the customers a considerable amount of guidance. But I don’t think a lot of employers see it like that and sometimes seem to think that insurers just
want to snoop about and find problems.

What must a business do to ensure it honours its duty of care?

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, they must carry out risk assessments and these must be reviewed regularly. This means making sure hazardous situations are controlled or that the right level of training has been given. The duty of care isn’t confined to employees, but extends to visitors to your workplace as well.

Did companies need to carry out risk assessments on workers’ homes before the CMA?

Yes they did. The CMA has simply altered the terms of the duty of care. What has changed is that now a company can be found liable for corporate manslaughter, there’s no need to find an individual responsible. Your duty to ensure that staff have a safe place to work has not changed. This is possibly something that people have overlooked before. If, for instance, your staff changed desks, the risk assessment procedure should be carried out again.