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 6 April.

Furthermore, 74% of companies are yet to review safety policies and procedures in light of the new laws.
Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula, said: “It 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.

“With 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.”