20 RISK MANAGEMENT
Providing a bridge over troubled waters...
New legislation on corporate manslaughter were reported under the Reporting of
and health and safety compliance has Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
significantly raised the risk stakes for Regulations (RIDDOR)
businesses, their directors and senior and 2.1 million people suffered from an illness
managers. they believed was either caused or made
worse by their current or past work. And that
Stewart Gardiner,
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate is without mentioning the 2,056 people who
Homicide Act 2007 puts senior managers died of mesothelioma.
underwriting director
squarely in the hot seat when and if it can be
at Fusion Insurance, proved that corporate negligence has resulted Furthermore, the Government has ushered
examines the health
in a fatality at work. The law leaves companies in big changes to coroners’ rules on
burdened with unlimited fines and directors inquests with the intention of bringing more
and safety strategies
facing a criminal conviction or even a prison transparency to workplace risks. Coroners’
that brokers should sentence if there has been a gross failure
reports on a fatality will undoubtedly
now be advising their
leading to a fatal accident. impact on claim defensibility and many
experts expect they will also lead to a
clients about
This, coupled with the new Health and name-and-shame culture.
Safety at Work (Offences) Act 2008, and
the tough sentencing recommendations The risks of day-to-day workplace health and
of the Sentencing Advisory Panel, will safety are largely managed by self regulation,
bring unprecedented pressure to bear on with the emphasis on risk assessment.
businesses – particularly SMEs – to review Prosecutions based on poor standards,
their risk management strategies and take though rare, are undoubtedly on the increase,
a long, hard look at existing health and particularly in the case of persistent breaches
safety performances. If shortcomings can be of compliance and reckless disregard for the
identified, then urgent action is needed. health and safety of employees. Where death
or serious injury have occurred – or in some
Although the latest Health and Safety cases a near miss – there will be a strong
Executive (HSE) statistics show a small fall in expectation of prosecution.
the number of people killed at work in the UK
in 2008/09 (229 workers were killed in 2007/08 It is well documented that construction sites
compared to the five-year peak of 241 in the and farms are the most dangerous places to
previous year), there are strong signs that work – they accounted for nearly half of the
work-related illness and injury are gaining a fatal injuries to workers in 2007-08 – and, by
much higher profile. and large, these sectors have responded more
decisively to health and safety risks.
For instance 136,771 injuries to employees
Insurance Brokers’ Monthly February 2010
Risk Management 20-21.indd 1 1/2/10 13:47:40
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