Directors’ duties Bill

Labour MP Frank Doran has introduced a Bill that would place a positive duty on company directors to take reasonable steps to ensure health and safety in all aspects of the company’s activities.

At present, there is an anomaly in the law. A recent TUC briefing on the case for a legal duty on directors and calling on the government to change the law outlines the current position that it may be possible to prosecute a director who is given responsibility for health and safety or who has specific duties that relate to safety as part of their role. However, directors who choose to take on no responsibility cannot be prosecuted unless you can show that they specifically did something which contributed to a death or injury.

www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-17355-f0.cfm