Half the respondents to a survey believe that a proposal to toughen corporate manslaughter law in the UK would promote better health and safety...
Proposals to toughen the corporate manslaughter law in the UK have been endorsed by almost half of respondents to a recent survey, who believe it would promote better health and safety performance by companies.
The survey, conducted by CMS Cameron McKenna, polled 320 respondents including risk managers and corporate lawyers, about the UK government's proposal, currently in a public comment period, to revise corporate manslaughter law to make it easier to prosecute companies when a safety failure leads to the death of an employee or third party.
Under current law, prosecutors must prove gross negligence on the part of a 'controlling mind' of a company, such as a director. There have been just five corporate convictions in the past 31 years due to the high standard of proof required.
The government's proposal, however, would create criminal liability for certain breaches of health and safety law.
While 49.2% of respondents said they thought the change would promote better health and safety practice, 40.1% of respondents said they thought it would not. The remainder said they did not know.
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