1 April 2008

Reminder that the new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act comes into force on 6 April

The Partnership is reminding businesses that they need to check their Health and Safety Policies are in order as the New Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act comes into force from the 6 April.

The Act means that an organisation will be guilty of Corporate Manslaughter where serious failures in the management of health and safety causes death. So if a company driver crashes while driving the organisation will be held liable. The Act also applies to those who drive their own cars for business use such as to and from meetings.

The Partnership is providing educational literature for organisations to give their drivers and adverts are being delivered through print and radio. A website has also been developed www.drivingbusinesssafely.org, which includes driver safety tips, useful links and more details on the new Act.

Rachel Wall Communications Manager for the Partnership said, “One in three crashes on the road involves a vehicle being used for business purposes. The new Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act means that businesses really ought to have their houses in order by now and make sure that their employees are driving responsibly on our roads. It is not enough to just have a Health and Safety Policy to tick a box, from Sunday organisations must be able to prove that these polices are being proactively monitored on a daily basis and if they are not they may find themselves in court.”

The Partnership also ran a seminar as part of its ‘Driving Business - Safely!’ campaign in January which highlighted the new Act to companies and the responsibilities they have to their staff when they are out and about driving in a work related capacity.

For more information about the new Act and the Driving Business Safely campaign click here