Corporate manslaughter is a crime that is committed by a company in relation to a work-related death.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act was implemented on April 6, 2008 and will affect all companies regardless of size. The new law will mean that, organisations can be prosecuted where a safety failure is the cause of work-related deaths. (Under the new act it no longer needs to be the sole cause of death) Such cases will not be limited to fatal accidents in fixed workplaces, but will include cases of death on the road.

Driving as part of the job, is the most dangerous work-related activity performed by most employees in the UK 95% of all road accidents are caused by human error and it is estimated that a third of accidents in the UK involve someone driving for work. That number equates to around 20 employees per week!

If found guilty an organisation could be ordered to:

• Pay an unlimited fine (In some cases where the offence is so serious an order may be made to close it down)
• Take remedial action within a specified period
• Publicise nationally full detail of their conviction (at the organisation cost) including size of fine and remedial action
• Employers can no longer pass all responsibility and blame for a fatal crash on to the driver

What can UK businesses do to protect themselves?

• Driver risk assessment
• Driving assessments
• Development where necessary
• Issue a driver hand book
• Check driving licence regularly
• Record vehicle accident data

It's not all doom and gloom:- research has found that the accident liability of fleet trained drivers reduces considerably compared to drivers who have not received any driver training. Additional benefits include potentially quite sizeable reduction in fuel consumption and vehicle wear and tear. At EXCEED we CAN help, please read on.....

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