Corporate Manslaughter Act Will Not Save a Single Construction Worker’s Life

Construction union UCATT have warned that the new Corporate Manslaughter Act will not save the life of a single construction worker.

The Act which comes into effect on April 6 is considered to be the dampest of damp squibs by the union.

Although the Act creates the new offence of Corporate Manslaughter, it does not allow bosses whose negligence leads to the death of their workers to be sent to prison. While it is relatively commonplace for company bosses to be sent to prison for fiddling their accounts it remains virtually impossible for a negligent killer boss to be imprisoned for their crimes.

The Government decided not to include clauses in the Act, which would have made it a statutory duty for companies to give an individual responsibility for health and safety issues, therefore making an individual liable if a death occurred, after heavy and sustained lobbying from the business community and the CBI.

Instead of making provisions for the imprisonment of killer bosses, companies convicted of killing their workers will instead receive a fine.

Prior to the Bill’s passage through Parliament the TUC and the Labour Party Conference in autumn 2006 both passed policies calling for statutory director’s duties to be included in the Corporate Manslaughter Act. Despite this strong backing the Government decided to ignore its party’s own policy on the matter.

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of UCATT, said: “The new Act will not save the life of a single construction worker. Only by creating the possibility that director’s will go to jail, will there be a change of culture in the construction industry. Too many bosses play fast and loose with workers lives because they know that the worst that will happen to them is that they will be fined.”

The construction industry is the most dangerous sector in Britain. Last year 77 construction workers were killed at work. The continuing high death toll in the industry is due to health and safety matters often being disregarded as a result of the casualised and fragmented nature of the industry.

Prosecutions and convictions of construction companies who kill their workers are comparatively rare. Although management failure is a contributing factor in 70 per cent of construction deaths, only around 30 per cent of deaths currently leads to a conviction.

Mr Ritchie, added: “Construction workers continue to literally risk their lives at work. At the very least the Government and the enforcement agencies must ensure that if a company is negligent, then they should be charged and prosecuted.”

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