Employment, Pensions & Benefits : Publications : Making a killing - but who's culpable?

Making a killing - but who's culpable?

Public debate has been raging for years over whether existing health and safety law adequately punishes corporations and their key executives when found guilty of health and safety failures which result in fatalities. Concerns have been fuelled by a series of headline-grabbing disasters, ranging from the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988 - where the lives of 167 offshore workers were lost - to more recent rail tragedies, such as Ladbroke Grove and Hatfield. In addition, around 250 people are killed annually in the UK in workplace accidents, not to mention the estimated 3,000 who die from asbestos-related disease and the 1,000 killed while driving as part of their job or to and from work.

For more information on this issue contact David Leckie.

Published in the Aberdeen Press & Journal - 11 November 2004