16 January 2006 - Report Calls for Significant Changes to Corporate Manslaughter Bill

16 January 2006 - Report Calls for Significant Changes to Corporate Manslaughter Bill:

A report to the Government from a significant MP's Committee and backed by IOSH calls for changes to the current draft of the Corporate Manslaughter Bill.

As it currently stands, the Bill allows Senior Directors to delegate health and safety decisions to junior staff, thus potentially avoiding prosecution in the case of a fatality.

The report also includes a call for the introduction of an additional offence of 'Secondary Liability' for Corporate Manslaughter. This would allow individuals to be held liable for an organisations' health and safety failings.

A further call for a 'broad range of possible penalties' to be applied for anyone found guilty of Corporate Manslaughter was also outlined in the report. This would allow the courts to determine which penalty should apply to the circumstances involved in each individual death.