Business treats the death of their workers as a cost of doing business and as witnessed by the paltry fine issued in the death of four workers a relatively insignificant one when compared to the vast sums involved in not meeting deadlines and of course profits.
Clearly our courts and governments aid in keeping this equation skewed against those most in need of protection. Simply increasing the level of fines will be insufficient in bringing about change and does nothing to address the issue of justice. The only way in which the concepts of prevention and justice can be served in these cases of negligent homicide is by jailing not only the ones directly responsible but senior executives as well.
Upper management are responsible for setting the culture of an organisation, it starts with them. Therefor the must be held equally culpable, after all as the saying goes - Show me how you'll measure me and I'll show how I will behave. Start jailing the senior officers of a business and you will soon see how fast the culture of that organisation changes to one of safety first.
I was shocked and disgusted at the 'punishment' meted out for this tragic and entirely preventable loss of life. sadly, however, it seems to fit the pattern in Canada of holding companies to a standard of justice different from that applied to individuals.
ReplyDeleteHi Lorne The issue is that these deaths are treated as acts of the corporation when they should be viewed as acts by the individuals who make the decisions that lead to these unnecessary and preventable deaths.
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