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Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings (CGH) became the first company to be convicted under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 and has been fined £385,000. The firm’s sole director was also charged with gross negligent manslaughter however this was dropped by the court in 2010 due to his bad health.
The conviction came about after an employee of CGH was killed when a deep trench collapsed on him as he was investigating soil conditions on site. The court found that the company had not carried out its own risk assessments and had ignored industry guidance.
This is an intriguing case, not only for being the first case of its kind under the Act, but also because of how the court interpreted and applied the Corporate Manslaughter Sentencing Guidelines (issued in February 2010).
The guidelines make it clear that the minimum level of fines should be £500,000 and legal commentators expect that future fines are likely to run into the millions. Despite the minimum level recommended in the guidelines, CGH’s fine fell short of this because the court took into account the firm’s financial situation, which the judge described as being in a “parlous financial state”.
The objective of sentencing guidelines is to act as an effective deterrent to other companies from committing health and safety offences rather than as a means of putting firms out of business. However, the fine imposed on CGH is considerable and demonstrates that SMEs are not immune from prosecution. The Act was envisaged to deter mainly large companies from breaching their health and safety obligations, following the train disasters at Hatfield and Potters Bar.
It is important that ACE member firms of all sizes carry out health and safety risk assessments and compliance policies in place.
To find out more about the Act, please download ACE’s Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 briefing note which can be obtained from the ACE bookshop webpage (www.acenet.co.uk/book_home_page/49) .
ACE’s three legal affiliates, Beale and Company Solicitors, Berrymans Lace Mawer and Brodies, are able to provide advice and guidance to ACE members on health and safety compliance.
For more information please contact Sharon Akumiah, ACE’s senior legal assistant at Sakumiah@acenet.co.uk .
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