Publicity threat looms

Companies convicted of corporate manslaughter could be forced to advertise their conviction, under new government measures introduced this month.

The new regime means courts can now hand out Publicity Orders to firms and public bodies where gross corporate health and safety failures have caused a person’s death. Companies can already be hit with an unlimited fine or be forced to improve safety in the workplace. The orders could be used to compel companies to publicise details of the case, the fine imposed, and any remedial work they have undertaken. Local authorities, hospital trusts and police forces could be forced to inform residents about the conviction.

Gerard Forlin, barrister at 2–3 Gray’s Inn Square, says the intent is to deter companies from entering into behaviour that could lead to a prosecution in the first place. “This will have an impact because companies will worry about what their shareholders think, higher insurance premiums and difficulties with tendering for future work, although the newspaper reports would cover the large corporations anyway.

“The biggest impact will possibly be felt on smaller, more localised organisations where the publicity may not otherwise have been so widely disseminated,” he says.