| So who exactly goes to jail? Put it in simple terms, a garage working on your car's brakes screws up. Do you jail the mechanic that worked on the car? Or the service manager that told him to hurry up? Or the middle manager that set the targets for the service time? Or the CEO of the service division? Or the CEO of the car company? Or the CEO of the pension fund that is the main owner of the company - and so the one that benefited from saving money on your service? Corporate manslaughter was introduced in europe after a ferry sinking where a ferry left port with the bow doors open.
The captain was the only one charged - but he claimed the company ordered captains to close the doors while at sea to save time in port.
Under the old health and safety law the managers who gave the orders couldn't be punished since they weren't present Naturally the only people to have been prosecuted aren't the managers of major industrial accidents - it was a single plumber that fitted a faulty boiler. |