7 Things You Must Know to Maintain Corporate Responsibility and Avoid a Corporate Manslaughter Charge

Before reading this article, let’s take a moment to remember the lives lost due to workplace failures. Behind every statistic, a person, a family and a community have felt the impact.

Why Corporate Responsibility Matters Now More Than Ever

Every employer in the UK has a legal obligation to ensure that individuals not in their direct employment, such as the public, service users, visitors and contractors, are not exposed to risks which significantly impact their health, safety or wellbeing.

Workplace safety isn’t just a tick-box policy, it’s a legal duty.

If your organisation operates in sectors where violence and aggression are foreseeable risks (ie; care, education, healthcare, security or custody), understanding and upholding your corporate responsibility could mean the difference between compliance and a corporate manslaughter prosecution.

The law is clear – organisations can no longer pass the blame to frontline staff or middle managers.

The courts now scrutinise senior leadership and organisational systems.

What Is the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act?

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 closes a legal loophole that made it difficult to hold organisations accountable when systemic management failures led to deaths.

Why Was the Act Introduced?

Prior to 2007, prosecutions under gross negligence manslaughter were nearly impossible against large corporations because:

The law required the identification of a ‘controlling mind’, usually one senior individual.
Responsibility was often spread across departments, making individual blame hard to prove.

This meant even in high-profile tragedies like:

The Herald of Free Enterprise disaster (1987),
The Southall rail crash (1997),
The Hatfield rail crash (2000),

… Corporate accountability was limited.

When Did the Act Come into Force?

The Act received Royal Assent in July 2007 and came into force on 6 April 2008.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it’s called Corporate Manslaughter.
In Scotland, it’s referred to as Corporate Homicide.

What Does It Mean for Your Organisation?

The Act allows a company, local authority or public body to be found guilty of manslaughter if:

A person dies due to gross failings in management or organisational processes.
Senior management’s decisions or lack of action substantially contribute to the breach.

7 Critical Things Every Accountable Organisation Must Know

1. Corporate Manslaughter is Real and It’s Happening

The Act criminalises management failures that lead to death, including:

Lack of adequate training
Poor staff supervision
Ignoring known risks
Unsafe systems of work

If someone dies due to inaction or poor safety systems, your organisation, not just individuals, can be prosecuted.

Fines can exceed £1 million and reputational damage can be catastrophic.

2. Risk Assessments – Your Legal Shield or The Weakest Link

High-risk work environments require detailed, regularly updated risk assessments.

Especially if violence and aggression are present.

Ask yourself:

Are incident reports reviewed regularly?
Are high-risk roles clearly identified?
Is training based on specific risks?
Are actions to improve safety being tracked and implemented?

A generic or outdated risk assessment is almost as bad as having no risk assessment.

3. Violence at Work is a Predictable and Preventable Hazard

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE):

Over 561,000 non-fatal injuries were reported in 2022/23.
350,000 workers experienced threats or violence.
Each year, workplace injuries costs employers an estimated £3.5 billion.

Violence is not “just part of the job.”

That said, failing to mitigate violence or aggression can be considered negligence in court.

4. Training Must Be Role-Specific, Proportionate and Legally Defensible

If your staff face known risks of violence:

Training must be relevant to their role.
Delivered by qualified, legally aware trainers
Aligned with current legislation
And reviewed and updated regularly

If someone is injured or killed and has not been trained, or received inadequate training, your organisation could be held liable.

5. Leadership is About Accountability

Under corporate manslaughter law:

The organisation is prosecuted.
But the court scrutinises decisions made by senior leadership.
Health & Safety leads and Senior Executive Officers can be named in court proceedings.

Delegating responsibility isn’t enough.

If senior leaders know the risks but fail to act, they are professionally and personally vulnerable.

6. It’s Not a Matter of If – It’s a Matter of When

Workplace violence won’t disappear by itself.

The law assumes you’re aware of the risks, so what matters is what you’ve done about them.

If a serious injury or death occurs, your records will be under the microscope:

Risk assessment reviews
Training logs
Policy documents
Leadership actions (or inactions)

Protect your team. Protect your organisation. Protect yourself.

7. Expert Guidance Matters

At NFPS Ltd, we specialise in practical, court-defensible safety training.

Led by Robert Landells and Trevel Henry, we have decades of experience in:

Conflict resolution and physical intervention
Health & safety law and risk management
Training frontline professionals across care, education, custody and transportation
Supporting national organisations with operational leadership and incident responses

Our training stands up in court and in a crisis.

Get Ahead of the Risk

Enrol in the NFPS Risk Assessment Course

The NFPS Level 3 Online Risk Assessment Course is purpose-built for individuals and organisations facing violent, aggressive or hazardous behaviours in the workplace.

During this course, you’ll learn how to: