Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) is a

nonprofit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

based in the UK which campaigns on behalf of families bereaved by workplace deaths. It was founded in July 2006 by members of the Bereaved by Work North West support group and the Greater Manchester Hazards Centre. The organisation campaigns for increased funding for the enforcement of

health and safety law Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...

and changes to the

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that seeks to broaden the law on corporate manslaughter in the United Kingdom. The Act created a new offence respectively named ...

- which currently only imposes financial penalties - to make directors criminally responsible for health and safety offences with the possibility of

imprisonment Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

. Co-founder Hilda Palmer said: "Fines alone are an insufficient penalty for taking a life." FACK also lobbies for the introduction of

juries A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make findings of fact, and render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Most trial juries are " petit juries", an ...

at all work-related

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...

s in England and Wales. They also provide guidance for bereaved families to obtain legal help and emotional support. The organisation has submitted evidence to both the English and Scottish parliaments, and in July 2011 met with Professor

Ragnar Löfstedt Ragnar E. Löfstedt (born 1964) is the Professor of Risk Management at King's College London and the Director of King's Centre for Risk Management (KCRM) and is the President-Elect (2022) of Society for Risk Analysis. Background Löfstedt grew u ...

as part of a government review of health and safety legislation ordered by

Chris Grayling Christopher Stephen Grayling, Baron Grayling, (born 1 April 1962), is a British politician and author who served as Secretary of State for Justice from 2012 to 2015, Leader of the House of Commons from 2015 to 2016 and Secretary of State for T ...

MP,

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the

Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for welfare spending, welfare, pensions and child maintenance ...

. The review was held under the "removing burdens on business" agenda, a position the organisation opposed by stating that "victims of employers' crimes pay the price for employers' negligence rather than business bearing the burden." The independent health and safety journal ''

Hazards A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would potentially allow them to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probability of that ...

'' described the review as "not really about changing the law. It's about risk envy – our competitors in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

don't all abide by strict rules governing safety, the environment and decency at work, so why should the UK?"

References

External links

Families Against Corporate Killers'We didn't vote to die at work' campaignThe Löfstedt review - terms of reference
{{Authority control Death in the United Kingdom Health and safety in the United Kingdom Occupational safety and health organizations Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom United Kingdom company law