Workplace Safety and Criminalization

2020 ◽  
pp. 391-408
Author(s):  
Paul Almond
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Contextual Features ◽  
Organizational Norms ◽  
Capacity Choice ◽  
Corporate Manslaughter ◽  
Open Question

This chapter argues that the contribution of criminalization to better health and safety in workplaces has been limited by certain contextual features of this regulatory method. It focuses on the role of criminal law in the health and safety legislation and the corporate manslaughter offence. In particular, this chapter argues that criminal law interventions are gravitationally oriented towards individualized notions of fault, capacity, choice, and responsibility. Once the liability enquiry is structured in this highly personalized way, the regulatory capacities of the criminal law to secure effective and enduring structural change is limited. Thus, it remains an open question whether the criminal law can accommodate approaches to responsibility that are more attuned to structures, cultures, and organizational norms.

Workplace Welfare and State Coercion

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-52
Author(s):  
GR Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Strict Liability ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Corporate Manslaughter

This chapter explores the possibilities and the limits of a social democratic criminal law. It elucidates an important role for the criminal law in the social democratic state. The first is the positive and important role of regulatory criminalization, based upon strict liability, particularly in the spheres of minimum wage enforcement and workplace health and safety. Health and safety might also be protected through a corporate manslaughter offence. The second is the criminalization of modern slavery offences. The third is the potential role for criminal law to prohibit certain forms of occupation that create unacceptable risks to the health and safety of citizens, such as boxing or sex work. Overall, this chapter provides an important counterpoint to social democratic labour law, and it provides a compelling vision of what a legitimate social democratic criminal law might look like.

scholarly journals No soul to damn? Revisiting the case for corporate manslaughter in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mitchell Spence
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Strong Case ◽  
Workplace Health And Safety ◽  
Corporate Manslaughter ◽  
Comprehensive Discussion

<p>Currently a corporation cannot be convicted of manslaughter in New Zealand. Increasingly, this distinction demarcated between individuals and corporations seems out of touch, particularly in light of legislation passed in cognate jurisdictions and the ascendance of a plethora of industrial disasters both in New Zealand and abroad.  Taking as its focus the Report of the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety (2013), this paper contemplates the above issues, concluding that the offence’s alignment with fundamental criminal law principles makes a strong case for its introduction in New Zealand. Consideration is also given to the format and rules of attribution that should accompany a resolve to prosecute corporate manslaughter, finding that a more comprehensive discussion, going beyond the recommendations of the Taskforce, is necessary before any legislation is settled on.</p>

Where Criminal Law Meets Labour Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-94
Author(s):  
Catherine Barnard ◽  
Sarah Fraser Butlin
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Working Time ◽  
Time Limits ◽  
Employment Agency ◽  
Employment Agencies

This chapter provides a detailed examination of the politics of criminalization in four key areas: the enforcement of working time rights by the Health and Safety Executive, the enforcement of National Minimum Wage entitlements by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the enforcement role of the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate, and the licensing regime administered by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority. It examines these diverse regimes through an enforcement lens. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority regime provides for a system of licensing for ‘gangmasters’ in specific sectors of economic activity. The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate statutory framework specifies that a failure of employment agencies to comply with the certain specified standards itself constitutes a criminal offence. The National Minimum Wage framework provides for a composite mechanism of civil and criminal enforcement. Finally, the various working time limits in the Working Time Regulations are enforced through criminal offences.

Workplace Safety, Deadly Jellyfish and Tourists

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 550-567
Author(s):  
Lynda Crowley-Cyr
Keyword(s):  
Health And Safety ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Industry Standards ◽  
Independent Review ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Recommendations

This article considers the hazards posed by marine stingers (notably Irukandjis) to recreational divers and snorkelers through the lens of Queensland’s unique workplace health and safety regulatory regime. The sustainability of diving and snorkelling tourism is highly dependent on the quality and safety of the services provided. The regime already contemplates the role of operators, the impact of sting-protective swimwear and other matters. An independent review of the State’s workplace laws in 2017 influenced changes to the law to improve its clarity, enforcement and prosecutions. However, this article argues that in relation to the management of marine stinger risks, with further slight adjustments to enhance clarity and consistency, the regulatory framework could achieve greater effectiveness in terms of compliance. This is important in a harmonised regulatory system. Other jurisdictions in Australia facing dangerous jellyfish hazards can refer to Queensland’s laws as a model of industry standards for the provision of safer recreational water activities. The article concludes with practical recommendations.

Liability in Criminal Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 213-256
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Regulatory Regime ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Controlled Drugs ◽  
Medicinal Use ◽  
Financial Crimes ◽  
Proceeds Of Crime ◽  
Corporate Manslaughter ◽  
The Uk

This chapter highlights the complexity of the interaction of the criminal law with the regulation of medicines and medical devices. It outlines the elements of the broader criminal law that include offences against the person and corporate and financial crimes that can be committed by individuals or corporate entities, such as corporate manslaughter, fraud, and bribery. It also elaborates on the criminal investigation in the UK that can be led by law enforcement agencies, including the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The chapter considers the relevance of the broader criminal law for individuals and corporates and the criminal law aspects of the regulatory regime. It refers to the criminal enforcement process and the role of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), including the application of the controlled drugs licensing regime to cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs).

24. Health and safety—the criminal law

2019 ◽  
pp. 423-441
Author(s):  
Stephen Taylor ◽  
Astra Emir
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Major Health ◽  
Safety Regulations ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Corporate Manslaughter

This chapter introduces health and safety law in general terms, before describing and assessing those aspects which fall under the jurisdiction of the criminal courts. It discusses the structure of health and safety law; the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; other major health and safety regulations; enforcement of health and safety regulations; corporate manslaughter; and debates about criminal liability in health and safety law.

Management commitment and its impact on occupational health and safety improvement: a case of iron, steel and metal manufacturing industries

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eshetie Berhan
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Manufacturing Industries ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Occupational Risks

PurposeManagement commitments (MCs) have a prominent effect to create a safe work environment in the industries. Though there have been various studies on the prevalence and associated factors of OHS in Ethiopian manufacturing industries, the role of MCs in improving workplace safety, however, has not been studied so far. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to investigate the role of MCs on improving OHS in iron, steel and metal manufacturing industries (ISMMI) in Addis Ababa.Design/methodology/approachThis paper used a close-ended questionnaire to collect primary data from 89 ISMMI and fitted the data in structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques using SPSS and AMOS.FindingsThe major findings of the study showed that directly or indirectly there are good MCs in Ethiopian ISMMI. To some extent, MCs have also resulted in reducing risk and diseases causing factors, which subsequently reduced occupational risks and disease. However, the study showed that MCs are not strategically supported.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the limited scope of data collection, the research results may not be equally implemented outside Addis Ababa and other sectors.Practical implicationsThe findings of the research may help policymakers and managers to strictly control MCs and follow up implementation of OHS policies.Originality/valueThis paper is the first of its kind in developing the conceptual framework model and attempting to assess MCs using structural equation model towards improving OHS in ISMMI.

The Role of Government Backbenchers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meg Russell ◽  
Daniel Gover
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Corporate Manslaughter ◽  
Party Cohesion ◽  
Government Legislation

This chapter explores how government backbench parliamentarians in both chambers at Westminster influence the content of government legislation and the dynamics of politics. Government backbenchers are often thought to be Westminster’s most influential policy actors, operating through the ‘intraparty mode’. As summarized here, governments have recently become less able to rely on their votes, thanks to declining party cohesion. Yet governments are rarely defeated as a result of rebellious votes. This chapter analyses government backbenchers’ amendments proposed to the 12 case study bills—some of which served purposes other than immediate policy change—and their role as ‘pivotal voters’ in resolving legislative disputes with other (particularly opposition) actors. It also emphasizes their influence on legislation before it is introduced, and the importance of ‘anticipated reactions’. For example, ministers introduced the Corporate Manslaughter Bill only reluctantly, following backbench pressure. Backbenchers hence have subtle, and often hidden, influence in the legislative process.

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