The Corporate Manslaughter Act has finally come to pass, and company directors can now be found culpable for accidents that happen with their company cars. There are some wide differences of opinion on how worried these directors should be.

Employers are already facing corporate manslaughter legal cases that have arisen after crashes involving company cars, so the rumour mill goes. How far-reaching the act will become depends on the first high-profile case to be concluded in court.

Common sense dictates that employers who are able to show clear written evidence of having taken all reasonable steps to ensure they have a responsible approach to monitoring drivers and their cars, will be far more confident of legal challenges than those who have not. The comments from leasing and car management firm Alphabet makes a lucid argument for simply reading the Health and Safety Executive's guidance on the subject.

ACFO DIRECTOR AND MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY STEWART WHYTE

"ACFO members appear generally cautious about the full implications of the new corporate manslaughter legislation. On the one hand it's now in place, and removes all the uncertainly over just exactly what it may hold. On the other hand, most ACFO members already have in place risk assessment or management processes for their on-road risk exposure, so few expect any prosecutions for 'normal' fleet operators.

"Any fleet operator who has not addressed this whole road safety issue is potentially at risk (and rightly so), although the test of exercising 'gross negligence' in the running of a fleet is a tough one. This is not the case for a business where the vehicles are the business (for example couriers or chauffeur-drive).

"There are very real concerns that some members of the supply side with vested interest in selling 'risk management solutions' have overstated their case, and continuing claims of large-scale prosecution are now leading to issue fatigue. This is not helpful overall.

"ACFO has been promoting good practice in managing on-road risk for many years and has provided members with a range of tools. While membership is considered the best way for any fleet operator to optimise their knowledge, anyone can use the government's own guide to this subject easily and free! The document (Driving at Work - managing work-related road safety) can be downloaded from www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg382.pdf."

CENTRE FOR CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DAVID BERGMAN

"The new Corporate Manslaughter Act has been a long time in coming and while it does not match up to what we had hoped and lobbied for, the CCA does consider that the new legal test for determining whether an organisation has committed manslaughter is a distinct improvement on the old one and should ensure increased accountability for large and medium-sized organisations who cause death through gross negligence.

"No longer is it necessary to prosecute an individual director or senior manager in order to prosecute the company. The new offence will also apply to a much wider group of organisations than before - not just companies - and crown bodies are no longer automatically exempt, though the new Act does create some significant exemptions particularly in relation to deaths of members of the public.

"The major criticism that many safety activists and trade unions have over this Act relates to its failure to engage with individual accountability - and in particular that of directors. The challenge for the government now is to change the law to impose positive duties on directors - something that it promised back in 2000."

CIPD EMPLOYEE RELATIONS ADVISER BEN WILMOTT

"The CIPD is not convinced that the corporate manslaughter legislation will have any significant impact on improving health and safety management in the UK.

"We entirely agree that organisations should place the highest priority on ensuring the health, safety and welfare of all employees and any other people who may use their premises and equipment or be affected by their business in any way.

"However, this principle is already underpinned by extensive health and safety law, which already provides for unlimited fines against the most serious offenders. "There is a danger that the corporate manslaughter legislation could be regarded as yet another layer of legal process that might serve to confuse rather than clarify.

"There is a risk that the legislation could inadvertently create a blame culture within organisations, making it harder to learn lessons where there has been a health and safety failure resulting in death. The Act's focus on establishing senior management failure may make those involved so guarded in giving their account of the facts that it becomes more difficult to ensure that vital lessons are learned. The CIPD is also concerned that the definition of 'senior manager' under the legislation is ambiguous and will be difficult to apply in practice."

ALPHABET (GB) COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR RICHARD SCHOOLING

"This Act is relevant to fleets because, for every 'conventional' workplace fatality in the statistics, there are three to five road deaths involving working drivers.

"That is the HSE's published estimate. Every vehicle legally becomes a 'workplace' while used on business, so white collar service firms run a much higher risk of experiencing a working death than many directors realise - regardless of whether employees drive their own cars or company vehicles.

"The Police now routinely check for possible management culpability when they investigate at-work road deaths. The Act removes past obstacles to prosecuting large companies and directs juries to refer to specific guidelines, such as the HSE guide to managing at-work road-safety, when assessing safety performance.

"Effectively, it completes a series of legal moves that make it very important for employers to apply the HSE guidelines appropriately.

"A growing number of Alphabet customers want to reduce their use of cash alternatives - not only because of Duty of Care concerns but also for 'green fleet' reasons and to improve their overall car benefits."

ZENITH VEHICLE CONTRACTS CHIEF EXECUTIVE ANDREW COPE

"The new Corporate Manslaughter Act will not make too much difference for the vast majority of companies with regard to their company vehicles. The reason for this is simple: most businesses have already taken seriously the implications of the business usage of company vehicles and are continually assessing and developing their duty of care responsibilities through effective policy and management. There is a good awareness of the risks involved.

"However, there are still a number of companies that have not really understood that they have a significant exposure with those people who use their own vehicles for business. These people either take a cash allowance or occasionally use their cars on general business duties.

"For some businesses, these vehicles contribute the vast majority of their mileage but very few companies really measure this risk. Nor do they have effective control policies in place as they would with the more normal business usage involving traditional company vehicles. Maybe this new legislation will make those companies think about their grey fleet a bit more seriously."