CIEH calls for ‘corporate killing' action

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health is calling on the Government to go further in its plan to introduce a charge of "corporate killing" against directors of firms whose negligence results in the death of employees or customers.

The Home Office is examining how far future legislation should go in making the directors and managers of companies legally responsible for deaths at work that are the result of their negligence.

On average, four people a year die in catering establishments. According to the Health and Safety Executive, 20 customers or employees died while on the premises of pubs, hotels or other catering businesses between 1993 and 1998. A fall from a height or down stairs accounted for half the deaths. Of the 20, seven were either employed or self-employed - the rest were customers.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott went a step further and announced that he wanted all companies to be forced to appoint a special safety director who would be responsible in the event of an accident. He or she should face jail if the company was found to have been grossly negligent, he said.

Mike Garton, who is on the CIEH's safety committee, said that the Government should take the toughest possible action against employers failing in their duty to protect their employees. "We have sent our submission to the Home Office," he said, "stating that in our opinion the proposals don't go far enough."

Although most of this legislation is aimed at making it easier to prosecute those responsible for accidents such as the Paddington rail disaster, the Government wants to cut the number of people dying at work by 10% by 2010. by Miles Brignall