The union GMB vowed to ‘put to the test’ the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act, which came into effect this week. John McClean, GMB national health and safety officer, said that the Act ‘did not go far enough’, because the individual directors could not be prosecuted, only the organisations they ran.

However, the union warned employers it would test the scope of the Act in the courts. The CSS (County Surveyors’ Society) has said that local authorities would be able to defend themselves by demonstrating that their policies and practices were in line with good practice.

The latest figures released for 2006/07, show that there were 241 deaths at work, with the Health and Safety Executive predicting there would be up to 225 for 2007 as a whole. McClean claimed: ‘Until there is a threat of