Corporate Manslaughter Act	Can you afford NOT to ensure your staff is properly trained
The Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 came into force on 6th April 2008. It has been coming for a long time. Many must have hoped it would go away! This legislation is the result of many years of campaigning by government ministers and Trades Unions. Many say it does not go far enough with the punishments for those found guilty not being as tough as they ought! Whichever way you look at it, it’s a wake up call for all business managers to get their ‘house in order’. Remember here that this applies to large and small organisations; there’s no get out of jail card for small industries. The Act applies also to Corporations and limited liability partnerships. The principle point to remember is that you will fall within the clutches of the Act “if the way in which senior management organises or manages their activities causes a persons death and this amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care to the deceased”. The Act does not apply to individual directors or employees of a company who are covered by existing legislation. It is the organisations conduct that will be put under the spotlight. Failures by directors and senior managers to manage health and safety in a competent manner, which includes inappropriate delegation, could lead to prosecution. The principle at issue here is that senior managers cannot easily delegate away their responsibilities. It is the organisation that will be in the ‘dock’ and if found guilty there will be severe damage to the organisations reputation and those who are involved in its management! We all have a ‘Duty of Care’ in the workplace and in this case the company/organisation needs to ensure that all reasonable steps have been taken to protect the safety of others in the performance of their business. Juries might consider whether the evidence in front of them shows too much tolerance to H&S failures, slack attitudes to safety and cost-cutting leading to non-compliance. All businesses need to ensure they there is a robust culture of health and safety issues and procedures from top to bottom.	It is incumbent upon senior management to ensure compliance with the Act. If this legislation does not produce the result hoped for by government, we can be sure that more stringent legislation will follow applying to individuals in addition to the organisation! So what should we do? This is a huge question but for those operating and maintaining plant and machinery; training and competency must be reviewed. Within maintenance schedules, due consideration must also be given to procedures and the provision of correct equipment to safely perform the required tasks. Within the gas industry we already have duties for those in commercial properties to comply with the competence requirements of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations. But within industry these do not apply, so we must consider the duties under HSE COP20 Standard of training in safe gas installation. Like GSIUR it states that work should be performed by competent persons who have attended a training course or assessment. Companies like Global Energy Associates Ltd provide tailor-made courses for process, steam boiler and power generation plant that is presented on-site. These courses are specific to satisfy site needs and meet the requirements of COP20. Such Consultancy companies can also provide advice and support to satisfy the operational needs of maintenance with regards the provision of safe operational procedures for plant and pipework maintenance. The spin-off is that such procedures can also satisfy the need for compliance with duties emanating from the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations and the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations! The former applying to systems operating above 0.5 bar and the latter to all non-domestic gas installations.
	If you think risk assessments are expensive – try having accidents!