A draft bill proposing changes to corporate manslaughter legislation could have an impact on agencies that hire staff in sectors such as construction or railway work.

The legislation currently requires prosecutors to prove an individual at the top of an organisation is personally responsible for the death of an employee. That individual can then face a prison term.

Under the proposed changes, directors would not face jail as the offence would be a result of the practices of an organisation rather than an individual. Instead, there would be an unlimited fine.

The law could affect agencies that employ temporary workers if they are considered to be the ‘employer’ of a member of staff who is killed while at a client’s site.

The status of temporary agencies has become blurred since the Brook Street vs Dacas tribunal last year, where a council worker was first deemed to be an employee of Brook Street but an appeal court later decided otherwise.

According to Kevin Barrow, an employment law specialist at Tarlo Lyons, there have been cases where agencies have been fined in corporate neglect cases, but it’s unlikely they’d be held wholly responsible for someone’s death.