Reckless companies to face maximum penalty
Companies that endanger the lives of their employees should face penalties the equal of fines handed out for breaching financial rules, the Health & Safety Executive has demanded.
Link: Corporate killing: Who’s to blame?
Currently fines for breaching financial rules are six times higher than those meted out for safety breaches. Timothy Walker, director-general of the H&SE, will argue that this current situation is ‘incomprehensible’.
The latest campaign by the H&SE follows plans by the DTI to introduce a new law of corporate manslaughter, to crack down on big companies, whose negligence results in death and industry.
This latest initiative has received some support from the Confederation of British Industry, who said that in some cases fines needed to be higher, while the Federation of Small Businesses said it was open to discussions about higher penalties for errant business, the FT reported.
