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Corporate health and safety crime at work

Archived news from Hazards magazine on the corporate safety criminals.

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British public urges crackdown on safety crimes - TUC poll Britain Updated: 24 November 2001

People in Britain want to see more companies prosecuted for breaking health and safety laws and more health and safety inspectors to catch them… See: Risks 29

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Australian unions welcome new workplace death laws Australia Updated: 24 November 2001

Tougher laws on workplace deaths are to be introduced in an Australian state. The Crimes (Workplace Deaths and Serious Injuries) Bill was tabled in the Victorian parliament this week. Under the new law, companies whose gross negligence causes the death of a worker will face fines up to $5 million (£1.8 million)… See: Risks 29

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Union demands £35m to counter rising tide of deaths at work Britain Updated: 24 November 2001

Prospect, the union representing UK Health and Safety Executive inspectors, has launched a campaign to increase HSE funding. The Prospect campaign comes after HSE figures released this summer showed a dramatic rise in the number of people killed at work… See: Risks 29 and Prospect news release and Prospect campaign pack [pdf file]. A Prospect briefing on corporate killing can be downloaded in pdf format.

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Farmer jailed for workplace manslaughter Britain Updated: 24 November 2001

A leading Shropshire farmer has been jailed for 15 months for the manslaughter of a 16-year-old employee. Alastair Crow, 33, was also told he would have to pay £10,000 costs towards his two-week trial… See: Risks 29

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Crapper fined £10,000 over site death Britain Updated: 24 November 2001

Swindon-based civil engineering contractor Crapper and Sons has been fined £10,000 after a site agent was crushed to death by an excavator… See: Risks 29

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Corporate complacency blamed for soaring deaths Britain Updated: 17 November 2001

The Industrial Society is blaming this year’s 34 per cent rise in workplace deaths on corporate complacency, and says the government must take action to protect people at work… See: Industrial Society news release and Risks 28

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Site 'tidied-up' after death fall Britain Updated: 17 November 2001

Construction site workers are claiming a Laing Homes job was 'tidied-up' before safety inspectors swooped to investigate the death of a site worker… See: Risks 28

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Italian PVC managers get away with 'massacre' Italy Updated: 17 November 2001

Twenty-eight senior managers of petrochemical companies Enichem and Montedison have been acquitted of charges of mass manslaughter by an Italian court… See: Risks 28 and Hazards background

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250 companies linked to forced labour Burma Updated: 15 November 2001

Pressure should be maintained and even intensified on Burma's military junta to permanently abolish forced labour, say unions. ICFTU and its "Global Unions" partners have released a list of 250 companies with business links to Burma. See: ICFTU news release The 250 companies See also: Forced labour in the 21st century

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Production lies Britain Updated: 13 November 2001

US microchip firm's secret strategy to undermine health campaigners in Scotland's Silicon Glen See: Hazards 76 feature

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Tackle disgraceful farm death rate now, says T&G Britain Updated: 13 October 2001

US microchip firm's secret strategy to undermine health campaigners in Scotland's Silicon Glen See: Hazards 76 feature

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Electrical bosses back corporate manslaughter laws Britain Updated: 29 September 2001

The Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) has declared its support for government plans to introduce corporate manslaughter legislation… See: Risks 21

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Directors pay £100,000 plus after firework death Britain Updated: 29 September 2001

Firework company directors Nigel Ronald Jackson and John Mather have been fined a total of £46,250 after health and safety breaches led to the death of a Knaresborough man. See: Risks 21

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Drivers blamed for train crashes seek exoneration Britain Updated: 29 September 2001

Three train drivers blamed for killing 13 passengers after passing red lights in separate crashes are seeking exoneration in the wake of last week's Cullen report into rail safety (Risks 20)… See: Risks 21

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Cullen reports on safety on the railways Britain Updated: 22 September 2001

A new rail accident investigation body should be set up to examine causes of accidents and prevent them happening again, Lord Cullen's final report into the Paddington rail crash has stated… See: Risks 20

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Rail unions’ response to Cullen report Britain Updated: 22 September 2001

Rail unions have been critical of what wasn’t in the Cullen report on railway safety which failed to address the dangers of rail privatisation. RMT, the largest rail union, says the report 'addresses the symptoms rather than the disease of fragmentation.' … See: Risks 20

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No hiding place in Europe for construction’s safety criminals UK/Europe Updated: 22 September 2001

The UK trade union confederation TUC and the construction employers’ organisation the Construction Confederation are to work together to ensure penalties for safety offences in any country of the European Union can be enforced and pursued in every country… See: Mutual EU recognition of penalties for health and safety offences. TUC-Construction Confederation briefing document

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Birse Construction pays £100,000 after work death Britain Updated: 22 September 2001

Birse Construction has been fined £80,000 with £20,000 costs after pleading guilty to failing to ensure the safety of 23-year-old contract labourer Daniel Goodman, who died when he fell from a height of five metres… See: Risks 20

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Putting work deaths under scrutiny Britain Updated: 15 September 2001

A new Work-Related Death Advice Service is to provide advice and assistance to families seeking justice after a work-related death. The Centre for Corporate Accountability says… See: Risks 19

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Construction’s common criminals Britain Updated: 1 September 2001

Major construction companies are continuing to find their way into the dock for criminal and sometimes fatal breaches of safety law… See: Risks 17

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Union warns of more deaths in construction Australia Updated: 1 September 2001

Exempting small employers from safety regulations in the construction industry for two years could lead to more deaths in the industry, Australian union CFMEU has warned… See: Workers Online and CFMEU review call

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Latest offshore stats: deaths up, injuries down Britain Updated: 25 August 2001

Latest figures on offshore injuries show fatalities and dangerous occurrences are up while major and less serious injuries have fallen… See: Risks 16

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Union concern at high Hispanic death rates at work USA Updated: 18 August 2001

A US union leader has said the overall decline in workplace fatalities reported this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics 'is good news for many, but not a l l, American workers.' … See: AFL-CIO commentary and News coverage on latest US deaths figures

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Employers fail to learn lessons of workplace accidents Britain Updated: 11 August 2001

New research shows that many employers do not have adequate procedures for assessing the causes of workplace accidents… See: Risks 14

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US giant Enron owned Teesside death plant Britain Updated:9 August 2001

Jeff Skilling, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Enron Corp USA, was sent to Britain after an explosion at its Teesside power station killed three people on 8 August 2001. The company had twice been prosecuted for criminal breaches of health and safety laws. See: Risks 14

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Construction unions demand jail for bosses to stop loss of life Britain Updated: 4 August 2001

Responding to the worst UK construction fatality figures in a decade, construction unions have called for harsh penalties, including jail, for negligent employers… See: Risks 13

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CPS deal lets director escape workplace manslaughter charge Britain Updated: 4 August 2001

The Centre for Corporate Accountability has criticised an 'extraordinary' decision to drop all criminal charges against a company director implicated in a workplace death… See: Risks 13

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Corporate social responsibility and health and safety Europe Updated: 4 August 2001

The European Commission is pushing for greater corporate social responsibility (CSR). A Green Paper launched in July promotes a European framework for CSR 'where companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society.'… See: Risks 13

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Employers must learn the lessons of workplace accidents Britain Updated: 28 July 2001

Lives would be saved if employers were compelled to investigate all significant workplace accidents, including road traffic accidents and bullying, the TUC has said… See: Risks 12

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Company boards must accept corporate responsibility Britain Updated: 28 July 2001

New official UK guidance on the health and safety responsibilities of company directors and the board members of public sector and voluntary organisations says each Board needs to accept its collective role in providing health and safety leadership in their organisation… See: HSE news release Also see CSR Europe social responsibility survey

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Judge criticised for dropping child death manslaughter charges Britain Updated: 28 July 2001

Two companies have been fined a total of £50,000 following the death of a 12-year-old boy killed by a reversing lorry while he was tying his shoe laces. Gerard Byrne was killed on 22 June 1999 when he was run over by a HGV reversing out of an animal feed mill (Risks 11)… See: Risks 12

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'Fear is the key' to employer compliance Britain Updated: 30 June 2001

An HSE contract research report on the implementation of the Manual Handling Regulations has found that one of the main motivators for compliance by UK employers was fear of compensation claims and enforcement… See: Risks 8

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Give a voice to the victims of workplace crime Britain Updated: 23 June 2001

The TUC is urging the Home Office to extend the Victim’s Charter to cover the victims of workplace health and safety crimes, to emphasise that safety breaches leading to injury are as serious as any violent assault… See: Giving workplace victims a voice: The victim's charter. The TUC response to A Review of the Victim’s Charter - full text

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If you raise a stink, you go to a shrink! USA Updated: May 2001

US companies have seized upon concerns about workplace violence to quash dissent. Hundreds of large corporations have hired psychiatrists and psychologists to advise them on how to weed out "threatening" employees. See: Giving workers the treatment: If you raise a stink, you go to the shrink, The Progressive, May 2001. Government Accountability Project: support for US whistleblowers

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Union comments on directors’ duties consultation Britain Updated: 12 May 2001

The TUC has released its submission to the HSC on a code of practice for Directors' Duties, and has called for separate codes covering health, education and other public and voluntary bodies because they often operate as if health and safety laws don't apply to them. See: TUC submission and HSC consultative document (now closed)

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Making a killing Global Updated: February 2000

Global free trade rules insist safety is a very poor second to profit. It's no wonder work kills millions of people worldwide every year. See: Hazards 69 feature [as pdf file]

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