Liability for Safety Offences: Is the Law Still Fatally Flawed?

Abstract

It is an interesting coincidence that the Court of Appeal, Criminal Division, considered personal liability for offences under s 37(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 on almost the same day as the corporate manslaughter Bill received the Royal Assent. This article will compare these two declarations of the law with a view to identifying whether, taken together with other relevant law, there is now a comprehensive and satisfactory provision for criminal liability when fatalities occur as a result of work activities. It may be useful broadly to outline these two developments before proceeding to a more comprehensive review of these areas of law.