Bereaved families call for changes to safety laws

Families bereaved and injured from work-related deaths and disasters have called for tougher enforcement of health and safety laws at a conference held by the TUC and the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA).

During the conference held on Monday July 8, families also asked for a new law on corporate killing, and the imposition of safety duties on company directors.

TUC General Secretary, John Monks, said: "The Government is committed to reforming the law on corporate manslaughter and we believe they need to seize the opportunity. Corporate accountability is on the agenda all over the world, especially in the US - but accountability isn’t just about what the managers do with the money, it’s about what happens to people’s lives and people’s health.

"People who run the railways, construction sites, in fact any kind of workplace, must be accountable for what happens to the workers and the public."

CCA Executive Director, David Bergman, added: "The Government must fulfil its promises to reform the law of corporate manslaughter and to impose safety duties upon company directors. Company directors must have a vested interest in the safety of their company and there must be proper sanctions to deter them from placing the lives of workers and the public at risk."

The Conference on "Law Enforcement and Corporate Accountability" is part of a TUC/CCA campaign for more rigorous enforcement of health and safety law and the enactment of reforms that will make it easier to convict companies and directors for manslaughter, launched in January.

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