The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, which came into force on April 6, will make organisations criminally liable for gross negligence, manslaughter and culpable homicide.
In Scotland, the new offence will be known as corporate homicide and will see the Procurator Fiscal looking at management systems and practices across an organisation, as a more effective means of prosecuting the worst corporate failures in health and safety management.
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George Fraser, Managing Director of Rok Scotland, commented: "Health and safety is an extremely important issue in all industries, but plays a particularly pivotal role in the construction sector.
"The introduction of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, is an opportunity for all Scottish companies to review their procedures and reduce the number of work related injuries and fatalities that occur across the country."
The Health and Safety Executive's latest figures show that in 2007 more than 4000 people were injured as a result of slips, trips and falls in the workplace, with five fatalities also recorded. These instances are said have cost the country over £67 million.
Organisations involved in incidents such as these will now be open to prosecution if someone has been killed at, or as a result of, work, due to a failure in the management or organisation of the employer’s activities, amounting to a "gross breach of duty".
While specific individuals cannot be charged, juries will be instructed to take into account how the fatal activity was managed at a senior level by headquarters and those in operational management roles.
(NS/JM)
