• Applies to companies not individuals
• Significant fines plus other sanctions
• Sentencing guidelines not yet published

After well over 10 years of legal discussion and development, the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act 2007 finally came into effect on 6 April 2008. The 2007 Act is the first generally applicable Act on health and safety since the HSW etc. Act 1974. The new Act creates the offence of "corporate manslaughter" in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (and ‘corporate homicide’ in Scotland). As the name suggests, the Act applies to fatalities linked to work activity. Significantly, this can apply to employees and non-employees (e.g. contractors, visitors, other members of the public). The offence can be committed where a company owes a duty to take reasonable care for a person's safety, but the way in which it has managed or organised its activities is a ‘gross breach’ of that duty and as a result, someone is killed. A company can face an unlimited fine if they are found guilty of the offence.