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CCA Press Releases - 2005
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CCA Press Releases - 2005

Click on title for full press release


6 Dec Safety Body supports positive legal duties on directors in surprise decision.
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has asked its civil servants to "explore the possibility of imposing duties on directors" of private sector and public bodies. It rejected advice from the Health and Safety Executive that it should not go down the legislative path and simply produce 'authoritative guidance'
5 Dec

Safety Body must support Directors' law reform - and reject civil servant advice
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has been advised by its civil servants not to propose a change in the law that would impose safety duties upon company directors. On Tuesday 6 December the HSC is meeting in a public session to decide whether or not to advise Government on the necessity of legal change.
The advice - given by civil servants within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) - has been provided despite the fact that the HSE's own commissioned research itself concluded that the evidence supported change in the law. It is also despite no director of a medium or large sized company ever having been convicted of a health and safety offence.

2 Dec Death and injury investigations compromised by employers' solicitors
Investigations by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into work-related deaths and injuries are being compromised by the presence of employer solicitors at interviews of employees by HSE inspectors, the CCA has told the Law Society.
7 Oct Hatfield Crash Statement
David Bergman, director of the CCA, welcomed the large fines imposed on these two companies for serious breaches of health and safety law. He said: "the failure to achieve convictions against any individuals for health and safety or manslaughter offences, or against companies for manslaughter offences, reflects a need for significant legal reform in this area".
11 Sep "Endemic Failures" in Scottish Ambulance Service says HSE
The HSE have severely criticised the Scottish Ambulance Service in an inspection report obtained by the CCA. The report says that the "Scottish Ambulance Service Board have systematically failed to implement systems to ensure compliance with minimum statutory requirements" in relation to health and safety.
14 Jul Comment on Dropping of Manslaughter Charges Involving Hatfield Train Crash
The dropping of the charges indicates two legal reforms are
required - one concerning the accountability of
company directors, and the other about the company itself
28 Jun NEW CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER BILL "WOULD BE INCOMPATIBLE WITH HUMAN RIGHTS ACT" SAYS LEGAL ADVICE
The new corporate manslaughter bill runs a “real risk” of violating human rights law unless the Home Office changes the way the new offence applies to crown bodies and unincorporated bodies, according to legal advice from human rights lawyers at two barristers’ chambers.
28 Jun SIGNIFICANT CHANGES NEEDED TO CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER BILL SAYS SAFETY CHARITY
Changes need to be made to the Corporate Manslaughter Bill before it can be considered an acceptable reform, the Centre for Corporate Accountability has told the the Home Office in its response to the consultation process.
23 Mar CAUTIOUS WELCOME TO CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER BILL
The CCA has given a cautious welcome to the long awaited publication of the draft corporate manslaughter bill. The Press Releases set out what we welcome - but also our concerns
16 Mar HSC TO TREASURY: "NO REDUCTION IN INSPECTION LEVELS" AND MAKE PENALTIES "QUICKER AND TOUGHER"
The Health and Safety Commission have told the Treasury's Hampton review on 'Regulatory Inspection and Enforcement' that it does not consider it appropriate to reduce the number of inspections and concentrate more on advice and awareness-raising. It also told the Review that it supports "any moves" that would "make penalties quicker and tougher".
16 Mar SAFETY BODY U-TURN ON PUBLIC SAFETY POLICY FORCED BY CCA LEGAL ADVICE
Embargoed: 00.01 am, Wednesday, 16 March 2005
The Health and Safety Commission has been forced to undertake a radical overhaul of a policy that restricted its inspectors from enforcing health and safety law in relation to public safety issues after considering CCA legal advice that the policy was 'unlawful' and fundamentally flawed.
10 Mar ONE SEVENTH OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUESTS REFUSED BY HSE
Embargoed: 00.01 am Friday 11 March 2005
The Health and Safety Executive has refused 14% of all applications for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) in the first two months of 2005, the CCA has learnt. In another 15% of applications the HSE has only provided partial disclosure. It has however provided full disclosure in 34% of cases.
2 Mar DIRECTOR DUTIES: "LAW NOT CHARITY" CCA SAYS TO MPs
Embargoed: 00.01 am Thursday 03 March 2005
The CCA is calling on MPs to support the Health and Safety (Directors Duties) Bill which has its second reading on Friday 4th March 2005. It has written to all MPs setting out why they should support the private members bill - arguing that the bill will have a very positive impact upon the safety of companies, without being too onerous on directors.
24 Feb

New Director Prosecution Statistics Published
Embargoed: 00.01 am Thursday 24 February 2005
Only 11 company directors have ever been convicted of manslaughter following a work-related death, research by the Centre for Corporate Accountability reveals. Five of the directors were sentenced to imprisonment, another five had a suspended sentence and one was given a community service order. In addition, between April 2002 and November 2004, only 27 directors are known to have been convicted following a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive. 8 prosecutions involved a death. Average fine was

10 Feb HSE INQUEST DISCLOSURE POLICY "FLAWED"
HSE's policy of prohibiting coroners from providing bereaved families and their representatives copies of statements and other investigation material is "flawed" according to a legal opinion obtained by the Centre for Corporate Accountability. HSE argues that disclosure of witness statements to bereaved families could jeopardise any possible future proceedings. As a result it is HSE practice to only provide coroners witness statements as long as they agree not to
hand them over to third parties.
7 Feb HSC TO DECIDE ON ALLEGED 'UNLAWFULNESS' OF ITS PUBLIC SAFETY POLICY THIS WEEK.
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) will decide on Tuesday 8th February whether to amend its restrictive policy towards enforcing public safety duties upon employers. Last year, legal advice sought by the CCA concluded that the policy - adopted in November 2003 - was 'unlawful'. The legal advice was obtained after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) refused to investigate a number of deaths of members of the public.
28 Jan 2005 HEALTH AND SAFETY COMMISSION’S LANGUAGE
OF ENFORCEMENT ‘MISLEADING’ SAYS CCA

The wording that the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) uses to describe the circumstances in which it will enforce health and safety law is “misleading and needs amending”, the Centre for Corporate Accountability have said in a letter to the HSC.

 

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