5 in 10 companies are not prepared for the corporate manslaughter act

- 54% of employers are not aware of the details regarding the Corporate Manslaughter Act

- 89% of employers do not fully understand the repercussions of the Manslaughter Act

- 74% of those questioned have yet to review their safety policies in regards to the new legislation

New research released by the UK employment law firm, Peninsula, has shown that 54% of companies are ignorant to the changes and new rules being introduced under the Corporate Manslaughter Act which comes into effect on 6th April 2008. Furthermore, 74% of companies are yet to review safety policies and procedures in light of the new laws.

Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula today said; ìIt is important for employees to work in a safe environment, however the legislation that started with the intention to ensure that senior management honoured their obligations under Health & Safety has been so watered down that effectively for larger companies there has been no change whatsoever, but for smaller companies the legislation is draconian because the owner manager as the 'controlling mind' is also the management team thus easily identified as having total responsibility in the event of an accident especially those involving death.î

ìWith over a million companies employing 10 people or less the vast majority, in my experience, do not have written health & safety policies and certainly have poor safety operating procedures. These are the companies who are vulnerable if any accident occurs resulting in death. A Government committed to improving health & safety standards will then have no hesitation in ensuring that employers in breach of the requirements are prosecuted with the full force of the law.î

Mr Done concludes; ìThe difficulty with small businesses is acquiring the expertise in every discipline required to running a company. In practical terms this is almost impossible therefore apart from relying on luck that an accident will never happen the only options are to employ someone with the expertise necessary to implement proper safety procedures. All employers must ensure that proper safety procedures are put in place, however it doesn't matter what the size of your business and how many precautions you take accidents are going to happen but you need to ensure that prevention is a priority.î