Practical advice from corporate killing seminar

A Society of Operations Engineers product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 27, 2003

More than 80 concerned delegates gathered in Chelsea last week to learn how to help protect their staff and businesses from prosecution under the proposed new corporate killing legislation.

More than 80 concerned delegates gathered at the National Army Museum in Chelsea last week to learn how to help protect their staff and businesses from prosecution under the proposed new corporate killing legislation.

Leading experts from Howard Kennedy Solicitors, BSI, FTA and Transafe contributed to the event, cohosted by the Society of Operations Engineers and the BSI.

Martin Parkes of Parkes and Son chaired the seminar and Andrea Nicholls and Sue Johnson, both Partners at Howard Kennedy Solicitors, began by bringing delegates up to speed with the legal proposals.

Both Nicholls and Johnson agreed that details surrounding the new offence will remain vague until later this year.

Having outlined the legal position the following speakers went on to give attendees advice on practical steps that can be taken to prepare for the legislation coming into force.

"1 in 3 road traffic collisions involves a vehicle being used for work and every year there are over 3500 people killed on our roads", said Nick Tissot, Managing Director of road collision expert Transafe.

These frightening statistics show why road transport operators must act now to prevent corporate killing law suits.

Tissot called for all companies to have an identifiable "audit trail" in order to protect themselves from prosecution.

He maintained that operators should be keeping comprehensive records including "bumps and scrapes" and "near-misses" and explained how this can help to identify problem drivers at an early stage and also enhance management capabilities to deal with a major incident should one occur.

Negligent vehicle operators who have no regular system of preventative checks or send out vehicles regardless of whether defects have been identified will not be able to prove that they have properly carried out their responsibilities.

The seminar brought to light some common causes of collisions including payment and reward schemes that encourage drivers to break the law and speeding to meet unrealistic schedules.

Tissot warned employers to beware unscrupulous drivers who manage to acquire "clean" duplicate driving licences and have their penalty points marked on another licence that never finds its way to their employer.

Delegate concern focussed particularly on agency drivers and the issue of liability in the case of a fatal collision.

Tissot made no bones in his reply: "When an agency driver drives a vehicle in your fleet, on your behalf then the responsibility and ultimate liability lies with you".

Penalties associated with the proposed new offence of corporate killing include hefty fines, forced remedial action, disqualification from management for certain managers and potential imprisonment of key personnel.

The Freight Transport Association's Sarah Watkins re-iterated that these are only the penalties which can be imposed by courts - damage to company image and reputation can be irreparable.

"A simple approach can be taken to identify potential risks", said David Smith of seminar cosponsor the BSI.

"Companies need to understand the risks and responsibilities and identify hazards, estimate the likelihood of harm, estimate the degree of harm and determine the appropriate risk control measure.

Life is full of risks but some are acceptable and some are not.

Risk management is about managing the risk and not getting bogged down in compliance issues.

It's showing due diligence and finding the safest way of working".

Head of Transportation at the BSI John Lennox closed the seminar by drawing attention to the importance of vehicle technician competency, not just that of drivers.

Seminar co-hosts the BSI support the SOE's pioneering IRTEC licensing scheme and will be working alongside the SOE to progress the national scheme which promotes safety and helps companies eliminate risk.

SOE Chief Executive Tracey Shelley was delighted at the success of the seminar: "The volume of questions from delegates and the variety of companies represented today shows that the road transport industry still has very real concerns and a need for information to help reduce risk.

We are very pleased to have been able to provide some practical ideas to help allay industry's fears".