The following review was submitted by WSWS reader Ian Martin. This newly published work by the director of the law programme at the Open University is an important contribution to the discussion of how society treats the problem of work-related fatalities.
Most attention is given to the English legal system, but similar issues arise throughout the world.
We are far more likely to be killed in the course of our work, or as a hapless customer of a commercial venture, than at the hands of criminals in society at large. The HSE acknowledges that a high proportion of these fatalities could have been prevented by fairly basic precautions. Dr. Slapper argues that many deaths warranted investigation as prima facie cases of manslaughter. There have been only a few successful convictions of companies for manslaughter in Britain. The best known is probably that of OLL Ltd. of Lyme Regis.