Corporate
Manslaughter/Homicide Act 2007 and Duty of care regulations
From April 2008 the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate
Homicide act 2007 has come into to full effect, with penalties
for convictions can include:
Unlimited fines &
Custodial sentences
This applies to all organisations and if you fall into
any of the following categories then you should pay particular
If any of your employees are driving on work business,
this act applies to you.
If you have any company vehicles, cars, vans, trucks this
act applies to you.
If you have any employees that work out of the office,
this act applies to you.
If any employee used their own vehicle on company business,
this act applies to you.
This now means –
If any of your employees die and you haven’t provided
relevant duty of care, you can be prosecuted for corporate
manslaughter or even murder.
Or
If your employees’ actions whilst at work cause
the death of another, (and you haven’t provided
relevant duty of care) you can be prosecuted for corporate
manslaughter or even homicide.
Or
If you are found to have not suitably maintained a company
vehicle or piece of plant, and it is found to cause a
person death you can prosecuted for corporate manslaughter
or even homicide.
Details of the Act
‘an organisation to which this section applies is
guilty of an offence if the way in which its activities
are managed or organised –
a) Cause a person’s death, and
b) Amounts to a gross breach of relevant duty of care
owed by the organisation to the deceased.
If you run, or are in a position of responsibility at
any of the following organisations then you can be prosecuted
a) A corporation;
b) Any government departmentc) A police forced) Partnership,
a trade union or employers association, that is an employer.’Relevant
duty
1) A “relevant duty of care”, in relation
to an organisation, means any of the following duties
owed by it under the law of negligence –
(a) a duty owed to its employees or to other persons working
for the organisation or performing services for it;
(b) a duty owed as occupier of premises;
(c) a duty owed in connection with –
(i) the supply by the organisation of goods or services
(whether for consideration or not),
(ii) the carrying on by the organisation of any construction
or maintenance operations,
(iii) the carrying on by the organisation of any activity
on a commercial basis, or
(iv) the use or keeping by the organisation of any plant,
vehicle or other thing.
A PDF of the full act can be downloaded below, along with
the Driving at work document which is produced by the
HSE in conjunction with the department for transport and
think road safety.
Fleetcoms can help your business comply with current and
the forthcoming legislation, easily and cost-effectively.
See below for some of our practical solutions:
Daily PDA reporting
1) Fit to work acknowledgement: At the start of the work
day, a log in message will appear on the PDA screen with
a disclaimer which needs to be signed, to say the person
is in a fit state to work.
2) Vehicle condition checklist: For your employees that
have a company vehicle, we have a tick screen encompassing
a VOSA vehicle daily inspection sheet, which your employee
has to complete to say that their vehicle is in a fit
state to drive
PDA Monitoring Solutions
3) If you have a lone worker we have Fleet Lone Worker
software which actively alerts you when they may be in
potential danger.Educational course
4) Driver training packages available see - http://www.broadmindedevents.co.uk
If you would like more information on how we can help
you become more compliant with the duty of care regulation
then :
Or
download and read the following documents :
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