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COMMENT
Page 7
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CORPORATE PHILOSOPHY
short while ago we noted that no company, let alone any haulier, had ever been found guilty of corporate manslaughter. Last week that straight run was broken when Bradford Crown Court ruled against Jacksons Transport of Ossett following the death of one of its workers (see page 10). Whether this opens up the floodgates to other corporate manslaughter cases, especially in road transport, remains to be seen. We'll also have to wait and see what sentence the company gets, as a decision on this has been adjourned until next month. What is certain is the message that should be ricocheting around every haulage yard in the country: you can't play fast and loose with the health and safety of your workforce. Overworked managers may well grumble that some people don't help things by deliberately taking a short cut on safety, no matter how many times you tell them of-f for it. But that's human nature. It's exactly because some workers have a disregard for their own safety, often through ignorance, that they need someone to watch over them.
Ii's a manager's job to ensure that people wear the right clothing, use the right equipment, and follow the proper procedures all the time, every time. It's also becoming obvious that when it comes to pursuing cases of corporate manslaughter the prosecution will want to prove a failure of responsibility beyond any individual manager. In short, did those at the very top make sure that health and safety was as much a part of the company's philosophy as profitability? And did they ensure that a comprehensive health and safety policy was implemented every single day (j)kroom to the washroom? Or did they pass the buck? Is that how of the year, from the -board
it is with your company? '