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Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide: Effective Strategies for Management Compliance

This presentation by Duncan Gordon-Smith of Birkbeck College outlines essential principles for effectively managing health and safety to prevent corporate manslaughter and homicide under the new legislation. The talk covers five core principles: planning ahead, delivering the plan, monitoring, reviewing, and reacting to incidents. It emphasizes understanding the legal framework surrounding corporate negligence, learning from previous tragic incidents, and establishing robust health and safety systems. Proper adherence to these guidelines can safeguard organizations against severe legal, financial, and reputational repercussions.

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Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide: Effective Strategies for Management Compliance

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  1. Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide: How to get it right NHS Facilities Management Network7th October 2008Birkbeck College Duncan Gordon-Smith, solicitor

  2. Five principles to get it right • Plan ahead • Deliver the plan • Monitor • Review • When an event occurs, react

  3. Overview • Understanding the context of the new offence - why has the new law been introduced? • The anatomy of the new offence • Getting it right – the principles in practice

  4. Impetus for the new legislation – the conduct that the new offence is meant to deter • Serious management failures, causing death • Herald of Free Enterprise, March 1987, 200 died. Sheen report: “from the top to bottom, the body corporate was infected with the disease of sloppiness.” • Clapham rail crash, December 1988, 35 died, 500 injured, British Rail were criticised for practices that were “positively dangerous” • Southall rail crash, September 1997, 7 died, 151 injured. Trial judge identified a “serious fault of senior management” • Hatfield rail crash, October 2000, 4 died, 70 injured. “Serious management failures by Railtrack”, “the worst case of sustained industrial negligence in a high risk industry I have ever seen” • Corporate manslaughter could not be proved • Fines imposed did not address public disquiet

  5. Key aspects of the offence • Death • Gross breach of duty • The involvement of senior management

  6. The scope of the offence • A duty of care must be owed to the deceased • That duty of care must be ‘relevant’ • Employer duties • Occupier duties • In connection with the supply of goods or services - patients • In connection with construction or maintenance operations • In connection with using or keeping any plant, vehicle or other thing

  7. Planning • Understand the business • Identify the senior management team • Set the direction for H&S management • Communicate and promote that direction to the organisation • Formalise the discussion of H&S issues at Board level • H&S as a regular item on the Board agenda • Director with responsibility for H&S • The role of the non-execs

  8. Delivery • Provide the necessary resources • Dedicated H&S committee • The importance of systems – e.g. procurement • Obtain quality advice • Assess the risks • Communication – send and receive • Involve the workforce • Training

  9. Monitoring • H&S challenges are dynamic • Opportunistic reporting – incident reports • Structured reporting – periodic audit • Specific reporting – e.g. where new processes are introduced • Keep up to date • Measure it • Record it

  10. Reviews • Ensure that the organisation’s H&S policy matches its current priorities, plans and targets • Use external audit as well as internal audit • Learn from adverse incidents • Interrogate the data • Feed lessons back into the process • Publish the findings where appropriate

  11. The H&S Cycle Monitor

  12. When an event occurs, react • Preparation • Training • Leadership • Analysis • Openness • Confidence

  13. The scope of the challenge • Potential for very serious legal, financial and reputational consequences • No new duties of care • Reserved for the most serious of cases • Builds on existing H&S foundations Well-run businesses that already have effective systems in place for managing health and safety have nothing to fear from the new legislation. (Ministry of Justice)

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