C24 Legal risks loom large as new safety legislation takes effect
Delegates at the AIRMIC conference were reminded today to focus on the impact of recent legislation and regulation on employers. Delegates were warned not to allow the recession to draw attention away from legal risks, especially the emerging ones, with the threat of large fines and even imprisonment for directors.
Among the issues under discussion by a team from law firm Berrymans Lace Mawer (BLM) were the Health and Safety (Offences) Act 2008 and the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act 2007. These recent Acts, they said, were symptomatic of the increased regulatory burdens on senior staff.
As a reminder of its relevance, the event coincided with the start of the first court case under the Corporate Manslaughter legislation, in which Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd face the charge of corporate manslaughter over the death of one of its employees Alexander Wright. In addition, a director of the company also faces a charge of gross negligence manslaughter. If found guilty, the company faces a very significant fine and its director faces a loss of liberty.
“Risk managers need to obtain buy-in from the board on the way their risks are managed. This is not just an optional extra,” said BLM's legal risks specialist Helen Devery. “Ownership of risk at a strategic level is essential and the risk manager has an important role in making this happen.”
On the Health and safety (Offences) Act, she says that directors and senior managers need to be proactive to ensure that the roles of those with responsibilities and duties relating to health and safety are clearly defined.
It was no longer enough, she added, to tick all the health and safety boxes in the expectation that this on its own would absolve you in the event of an employee being injured or killed.
C24 - Protecting the Board - a 360degree appraisal of current legal risks (Berrymans Lace Mawer)