Application of Aspects of Criminal Law - Case Study Example

Topic: Analysis of a Case Study for Application of Aspects of Criminal Law Student Name: Institution: Tutor’s Name: Date of Submission: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2 2. Aspects of Criminal Law that have been breached in the Case 3 3. How the relatives can sue the company 4 4. How the Company can defend itself in the case 5 4. What needs to be proved for the action to succeed and the response for defense 6 5. Conclusion 7 5. References 8 1. Introduction Before 1974, at least 8 million workers did not have any legal safety assurance at work. The role of health and Safety at Work Act of 1974 is to provide a legal framework that promotes, stimulates and enhances high standards of health and safety in work places. It ensures that employees as well as the public are protected from work activities. In addition, companies need to ensure safety measures are put in place to ensure that cases such as accidents are easily detected and emergency actions taken such as sounding of alarms while facilities such as first aid equipment should be availed to ensure any accidents are mitigated immediately and victims assisted. (Mwangi, 1992). This paper provides a case where a company did not follow some of the requirements of criminal la and the action that could be taken by the relatives of the affected workers against the company. 2. Aspects of Criminal Law that have been breached in the Case The safety, health and Work Act of 1974 states that the employer shall ensure general responsibility of marinating health, safety and welfare of employees at work by . According to this Act, employers shall provide and maintain safety equipment and ensure safety of the systems, ensure proper use of materials, their storage, handling process and transportation. This Act also requires that employers must provide the right amount of training, information and supervision and ensure that staffs are informed with regards to instructions provided by manufacturers and distributors of equipment. This section was breached because the person in charge of employees did not ensure that he had the right knowledge of the current practices in the sector and he did not put in measures to counteract challenges in the repairing work process. The aspect of management of health and safety at work regulation requires that employers must conduct an assessment of significant risks that are likely to be experienced by their employees. If more than 5 employees are involved, a record of assessment must be provided and the assessment process must determine preventive and protective measures of preventing the risks. This regulation also requires that employers must assess the specific risks that are experienced by young people with consideration of their inexperience, lack of awareness of possible risks and immaturity. The Bakery Company can be accused to have violated these requirements of civil aspects of management of Health and Safety at work. Firstly, the managers in the factory did not conduct any risk assessment of the oven before sending the workers to do the repairing work on the oven. Furthermore, there was no record of assessment that was kept by the company to assess the risks that could result if workers were allowed to go into the oven. In addition, the managers of the company did not asses specific risks that was being faced by the employees with resepect to their inexperience, lack of awareness and possible risks of immaturity. This is demonstrated by the case where the company did not account for inability of the employees to determine the high temperatures in the oven which could cause their deaths. The company did not consider their lack of awareness that the oven could not be operated at a temperature above 100 degrees Celsius. 3. How the relatives can sue the company Relatives of the deceased workers need to tell the court that the company did not consider the safety and health welfare of their relatives by sending them to do repairs in the oven while the temperature was higher than 100 degrees Celsuis. Thus the company should be sued for negligence of the Safety, health and Welfare at Work Act of the year 2005which requires that, employers have to be practicable, create safety, wealth and health at work and ensure the welfare of its employees are safeguarded. This should support their claim for compensation for the damage caused to them. Relatives of the workers who died in the oven need to defend their relatives by providing evidence that they did not go into the ovens willingly, but under the instruction from the company that needed to make quick repairs on their ovens so that production could not be interrupted. They also need to inform the court that the affected workers did not have the information regarding emergency measures that were set up within the oven that could assist them escape during danger. They also need to tell the court that their relatives had other assignments to do but were forced to go into the ovens to perform the tasks by the top managers of the company. For instance, relatives of Mr. Erickson needs to tell the court that he intended to go home and watch a football match but was forced to perform the task by the managers of the company. Also, relatives of Mr. Mayes need to tell the court that he did not intend to do the task because he had arranged to meet his friends to make a money deal but had to reverse his plans when he was commanded to do the repairs in the oven. Relatives of the deceased workers also need to tell the court that they had lost their people who were beneficial to them through accidents in the oven. They should tell the court that these workers were helpful to their families and it will be difficult to live without their help. Thus the company had caused them both physical losses of their relatives as well as loss of financial support that they received from them. By not ensuring safety of their relatives during assignments, they need to ask the court to make the company compensate them for the damages caused on them. 4. How the Company can defend itself in the case There are a number of steps that can be taken by the company to defend itself from accusation of involvement in the deaths of the workers. These actions can be useful in ensuring the company is not held liable for the deaths of their relatives and chances of costs of compensations are avoided. One of the ways in which the company can defend itself is to tell the court that they were not involved in any activity that led to the deaths of their relatives. They also need to tell the court that they did not have any information that the workers were going to work under circumstances that led to their deaths and if they were aware, they could have intervened to prevent any accidents or deaths. The company also needs to tell the court that they had put in safety temperatures for the oven operation and if they knew that the workers were going to work under such temperatures, they would not have allowed them to do so. In addition, the management of the company needs to tell the court that they signed an agreement with the workers to do the repairs and if they were unwilling to do the work, they could have declined to sign the agreement. In addition, the company needs to tell the court that they made an effort to provide the workers with first aid treatment when they discovered they were involved in the accident but it was too late to be helpful to the workers, thus they died. 4. What needs to be proved for the action to succeed and the response for defense There are certain things that the defendants need to prove to show that their relatives did not have to be blamed for the deaths that happened to them. For instance, the person who sent them to do the repairs did not check the temperature of the oven to ensure that it was below 100 degrees Celsius so that it could not harm them when they were inside. They need to tell the court that this was not done and their relatives were not monitored during the repair process. As a result, they were affected by high temperatures in the oven resulting into their deaths. They also need to tell the court that their relatives were not involved in any signed agreement with the company. This can be proved by asking the company to provide any written documents relating to the contract of repair of the ovens. The company has to provide a form that shows there was an agreement before the act. The agreement has to be signed by both the manager and the workers before the time of the accident. In addition, the company needs to provide a signed form showing that the company inspected the oven for safety before sending the workers to perform the repairs. If these documents are not provided, the company should be held responsible for the deaths that occurred to their relatives. In addition, relatives of the workers need to ask the company t provide any first aid measures that had been used to rescue the workers when they had been removed from the oven. This should contain actions that were taken to assist the workers when they had been affected by high temperatures of the oven. If the company cannot provide these statements, it should be held responsible for the death of workers and sued for negligence. 5. Conclusion Generally, there are certain working regulations that need to be followed by organizations in contracting workers. Organizations need to comply with certain criminal laws requirements in contracting workers into performing tasks in their companies. This should involve signing agreements and written documents that need to be accessible in case of complaints. In addition, there is the need to ensure that requirements of the court in entering into contracts are followed. For instance, workers should be willing to perform a task while the company should ensure their safety and well-being while performing tasks in their companies. This is not only applicable to the bakery company, but to all companies that employs workers on contractual basis. Companies also need to ensure emergency measures are put in place so that damage to properties or employees does not occur. This can be achieved by use of devices such as alarms and signals that alerts emergency workers such as fire brigade and health workers who can assist in controlling any situation that emerges. However, in case of an accident, it is the responsibility of the company to ensure that the right safety measures are taken to ensure their workers are not affected adversely by the accidents that take place in a company. On the other hand, all companies need to ensure safety is ensured before any activity is performed. This can be done by inspection of machines and equipment to determine if any hazards are likely to be experienced. 5. References Dutta, K. K. 1998. Some aspects of criminal law. New Delhi, A.P.H. Pub. Corp. Lillich, R. B. 1981. International aspects of criminal law: enforcing United States law in the world community : Fourth Sokol Colloquium. Charlottesville, Va, Michie Company. McDonald, G. K. 2000. Substantive and procedural aspects of international criminal law: the experience of international and national courts 1 Commentary. The Hague [u.a.], Kluwer Law Internat. Nycum, S. H. 1976. The criminal law aspects of computer abuse: applicability of the state penal laws to computer abuse. Menlo Park, Calif, Stanford Research Institute. Mwangi, M. 1992. Aspects of criminal law in Kenya. Nairobi, Oxford University Press. Scheb, J. M., & Scheb, J. M. 2011. Criminal law and procedure. Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Read More