ìGetting away with murderî no longer an option for rogue companies

Ten years after Government talks first began, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act will finally come into force on 6 April.

Martin Bare, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), said: ìWe hope this will be a wake up call for those companies who take a lax approach to the health and safety of their staff, and force them to take it much more seriously.î

Under the new law, companies will face unlimited fines if they are found guilty of causing a death through a ëgross breach of duty owed under the law of negligenceí.

ìObviously we are very pleased that this is now law,î said Martin, ìand we hope it goes a long way to protecting employers and preventing needless deaths. We do feel, though, that if the Government had decided to target individuals, rather than companies, the Act would have been an even stronger deterrent to those who choose to ignore health and safety of their employees.î