Barrister Gerard Forlin said: “It is a little-known fact that of the 3,500 road deaths a year, more than 1,000 are caused while at work, and can involve anyone from the company chairman to white-van-man” Mr Forlin warned that under the Corporate Manslaughter Bill which is due to take effect by the end of 2006 or early 2007, all the court has to be shown for a company to be blamed for an accident is that someone at senior management level has made a gross error.

To protect themselves from legal comebacks, Mr Forlin stressed that businesses should carry out a risk assessment and be able to prove steps have been taken to minimise any potential dangers. “It is no longer just the front-line operator, train driver, pilot, company car driver or air-traffic controller who carries the can. He or she can now be seen as a ‘victim’ and the focus is now on how his or her error should have been taken out by risk assessment”.

A Health & Safety Executive spokesman said that under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, all businesses are required to assess any risks that their employees and others affected by their business could be exposed to. The new rules include not just drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists when at work.

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