British businesses risk their corporate reputation if they do not prepare for April’s Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, warns Croner Consulting.
Many businesses now recognise the fact that under the legislation it will be much easier for an organisation to be convicted of manslaughter for work-related deaths and injuries. But what most companies have not been alerted to is the direct and real risk to their business reputation if actions for corporate manslaughter are brought against them.
The Publicity Order – Section 10 of the impending law – requires any company convicted of corporate manslaughter to disclose their conviction in the public domain, as well as the details of the offence, the amount they were fined and the improvements they have been ordered to make to their health and safety culture.
Stephen Thomas, a safety technical consultant with Croner, says: "Only recently over half of all employers (52.4%) admitted to being unprepared for the new law, and from our interaction with businesses we know there’s even less awareness of the publicity clause.
"This specific part of the law puts unprepared businesses at risk of damaging their corporate reputation by highlighting their laissez faire attitude to health and safety and ultimately the welfare of not only their employees but third parties such as visitors, contractors or clients as well. This will no doubt affect their recruitment and retention rates, as well as maintaining and securing new business and relationships with contractors – no one wants to work for or recruit the services of a ‘rogue’ company."
Stephen continues: "With the legislation only months away, we’re warning businesses that do not meet current health and safety standards and those with a poor safety culture to start restructuring and implementing the appropriate policies now.
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In particular, health and safety needs to be taken seriously at all levels, and especially at the executive level so positive examples are set and a safety culture implemented from the top down. The safety culture of an organisation will be of greater importance than ever before. This is especially true when defending a manslaughter prosecution under the new Bill, where documents such as internal memos, organisation charts, faxes and minutes of safety meetings will be vital in proving that poor management standards did not cause a breach of the duty of care to the person(s) killed. Company owners and directors cannot afford to be complacent and must place health and safety high on their agenda and keep it there."
Croner is offering businesses the following advice to creating a positive safety culture in preparation for the impending Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill:
• Remember that a good culture, safety or otherwise, starts from the top. Appoint and provide assistance to a health and safety director, who will need to ensure health and safety concerns, performance indicators, targets and failures are communicated to the board.
• Make sure that health and safety management systems accurately reflect the company’s activities.
• Actively involve senior managers to act as motivators for all levels of management (by maintaining their interest through participation) and for employees (by demonstrating management’s commitment to their well-being).
• Allocate health and safety responsibilities to all levels of staff to create a sense of ownership regarding the companies overall health and safety standards.
• Encourage communication between all levels in spoken, written and visible pathways.
• Implementing health and safety measures need not be costly – it can save you money not only in the avoidance of fines and penalties but in tangible business benefits such as increased performance, reduction in lost time, reduced insurance premiums and a healthier, happier workforce.
