Safety could be driven underground if directors are made liable
A barrister who has appeared as counsel in the Southall and Ladbroke Grove rail inquiries has questioned draft government proposals to toughen up on legislation governing corporate responsibility for workplace accidents.

Speaking at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) occupational health and safety conference in Birmingham, Gerard Forlin said problems could arise if directors are held individually responsible for workplace deaths.

On 23 May last year, the then Home Secretary Jack Straw released a proposal to change manslaughter legislation in Wales and England (the document specifically excludes Scotland). Submissions to the document were due by 1 September. Since then the legislation has been delayed.

Many campaigners are pushing for a strict law that could mean heavy fines and directors jailed if they fail to keep employees safe.

Forlin noted that the public perception is that the 'fat cats have got away with too much for too long'. But, he said, there is a fear that directors will resign if this law goes through. In a March survey 40 per cent of board members polled said they would resign if a law was passed that held them individually liable, he said.

Forlin warned that if the new law is introduced it could 'drive safety underground', a fear echoed by a number of health and safety professionals earlier this year.

Forlin said he believed a confidential culture would develop with a reduction in the number of written records — meaning less evidence.

It was also possible, he told delegates, that the law could drive away overseas investment. The oil tycoon in Texas would not want to be culpable in the UK, he said.

  • The Trade Union Conference (TUC) and the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) are to work together '..to press for realistic penalties for workplace safety crimes'.