WHAT lessons can be learnt from the fine of £480,000 and £84,000 costs imposed upon Lion Steel Equipment Ltd, sentenced recently at Manchester Crown Court, having pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter following the death of one of its workers?

The worker fell through a fragile roof at Lion Steel’s premises, having not received any health and safety training, and without being properly equipped. Three directors were charged with gross negligence manslaughter and under s37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to ensure the safety of workers. The company was charged with corporate manslaughter and with offences contrary to s2 and s33 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 relating to failure to ensure the safety of employees.

At the start of the trial, the corporate manslaughter offence was severed from the other charges due to case management issues relating to the health and safety and gross negligence manslaughter offences. Therefore, the trial continued with the individual manslaughter and section 37 health and safety offences, as well as the company’s health and safety offences. When it concluded, the judge ordered the individual charges against two of the directors to be dropped, and the prosecution dropped all remaining charges against the directors in return for a guilty plea to corporate manslaughter.

However, in dropping the health and safety offences, particularly the section 37 offences against the directors that would have resulted in them being disqualified from being a company director, the directors escaped disqualification, leaving them in charge of a business that by their own admission was managed in a way that resulted in the death of one of||its employees. The first business convicted of corporate manslaughter, Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd, was fined £385,000 despite being in dire financial straits. The Court of Appeal refused leave to appeal stating that ‘it is an unfortunate but unavoidable consequence of a serious breach’ that businesses should be put out of business. The Lord Chief Justice said that imposing a fine that the company could pay would have resulted in a ‘ludicrous’ position. The business later went into administration.

The Health and Safety Executive has released provisional data for April 2011 to March 2012, showing that 173 workers were killed – down two from the previous year. Approximately 100 other cases of corporate manslaughter are currently being considered for prosecution. Costs sanctions are being proposed by the health and safety executive for intervention work in businesses. It is clear, therefore, that businesses cannot afford to be complacent and must have effective health and safety management systems and training in place if they are to avoid prosecution. Furthermore, if accidents occur, it is imperative that businesses take immediate legal advice.

For more details, contact Jeremy Asher on 01392-333824 or at j.asher@ashfords.co.uk

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