When Business Kills

CHAPTER 3

Using Health and Safety Legislation for Corporate Killing

An alternative or an additional course of action, where there has been fatality caused by corporate act or omission, is to use health and safety legislation. Although there are overlaps between corporate manslaughter and health and safety offences resulting in death, the offences are different and prosecution for health and safety violations, even those resulting in death, are often not treated as matter of criminal law per se¹and may not satisfy public demand that individual organizations be prosecuted and convicted of corporate homicide offences.

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in ...