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