Big Business Beware: Proposed Sentencing Guidelines for Corporate Manslaughter

In the year of the 40th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work Act the Sentencing Council has decided to release proposed Guidelines to cover corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety and hygiene offences. The Council’s reasoning stems from the breadth of charges encompassed in Health and Safety legislation, ranging from minor injury to multiple fatalities and the infrequency of substantial prosecutions.

To date there has only been sentencing guidelines for fatality cases but the proposed guidelines, which relate to the level of fines to be imposed rather than custodial sentences, are designed to give judges direction and continuity across much of Health and Safety legislation.

These Guidelines propose a new approach to be applied by the sentencing judge when setting the level of a fine. The key areas for businesses to be aware of are

•  The Guidelines show the Council’s clear intention to increase fines for large corporations to make them more “proportionate”
• The starting point which sets the possible parameters of the fine to be imposed will be linked to company turnover
• Any “quantifiable profit” gained as a result of an offence can be added onto the fine

A likely, though unintentional, side-effect of the Guidelines is that fines will increase not only for large corporates but also SME’s. This increase to levels of corporate fines, which for a large company could reach £20m should focus the corporate mind, whether large or small, on proactively ensuring businesses operate to meet the requirements of health and safety legislation.