Investigating Corporate Manslaughter

Mark Smith – British Transport Police Detective Chief Superintendent

Today

• The size of the issue

• Immediate impact

• How joint investigations are managed

• Decision Making

• What the police will be looking for

• How the police investigate

The facts

• 241 workers fatally injured in 2006/07 (217 in 2005/06)

• Agriculture and construction account for 46% of fatal injuries to workers

• Falling the most common kind of accident, accounting for 19% of fatal injuries to workers in 2006/07

• 90 members of the public fatally injured in 2006/07

Immediate impact

• Police/Emergency Services/HSE/LA

• Initial Actions

• Impact on your company

• Impact on you

Ongoing Investigation

• Work Related Deaths Protocol

• Procedure

• Coroner

Outcomes and Decisions

• Primacy in investigation

• Enforcement action

• Further action

Legislation

• Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

• Regulations made under the Act

• Individual Manslaughter Common Law

• Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007

What will we be looking for

• Serious breaches of HSWA

– Inadequate safety policy/procedures– Lack of action to assess and control risks– Inadequate training and instruction– Failure to properly supervise– Profit over safety– Failure to heed warnings

What will we do?

• Forensic exam of scene

• Search warrants/production orders

• Seizure of original material

• Electronic evidence – Digital storage

• Interview of witnesses

• Third party disclosure issues

Conclusions

• Safety Intelligence• Action• prevention better than

cure