Workplace Death Raises Need for Corporate Manslaughter Laws

The tragic death of a worker on an Auckland building site raises the need for corporate manslaughter laws when company owners show reckless disregard for the lives of workers, Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson said today.

Property developer Brent Clode and his companies were yesterday fined a total of $89,000 following the death of Te Rue Tearetoa in January last year.

"The prosecutor described Clode's actions as 'reckless in the extreme'," Ross Wilson said

"While the CTU advocates a co-operative approach to injury prevention and health protection in the workplace, there are some cases where the full force of the criminal law should be applied," he said.

"This case may well be one of those. "In cases of gross negligence company principals should not be protected from criminal law by the corporate facade.

"Perhaps it is necessary to follow the example of other countries and include a corporate manslaughter provision in our criminal law so those business leaders can be held to account," Ross Wilson said.