Directors' liability for death or workplace injury
International Journal of Law and Management
ISSN: 1754-243X
Article publication date: 6 September 2013
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the liability of directors and senior officers within organisations (primarily companies but partnerships and sole traderships are considered where appropriate) and primarily focus on workplace settings.
Design/methodology/approach
Desk‐based research was carried out.
Findings
The scope of the paper is confined to two major aspects of the criminal law – that of manslaughter, both statutory and at common law and also touches on the range of health and safety offences available to the courts. In terms of manslaughter, under the common law, it is gross negligence that is considered.
Research limitations/implications
The paper does not attempt an analysis of forms of civil liability but does reflect on the broader relationship between responsibility of directors and company law. The debate over the responsibility of those in leading positions following death or injury to members of the workforce remains a live and problematic one. It is clearly linked to wider considerations of corporate responsibility.
Originality/value
On the one hand, those advocates of a system targeting erring directors in a direct fashion see utilisation of the criminal law (apportioning the full weight of public opprobrium), as the most effective way of improving safety for the workforce. By contrast the opposing view is that senior personnel rarely set out to kill or injure those who work for them and that a better way forward is to consider systemic failings running across an organisation. Linked to this is the notion that placing too much responsibility on companies and the senior personnel at their helm is a disincentive to the entrepreneurial spirit that allows business to flourish.
Keywords
Citation
Dobson, A. (2013), "Directors' liability for death or workplace injury", International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 55 No. 5, pp. 385-395. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLMA-06-2013-0023
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited