Charity events such as fun runs, bungee jumps and skydives could be threatened by the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, which came into force last week.

The law makes it easier to prosecute organisations for negligently causing death by removing the need to find a single individual at fault. It also allows courts to impose unlimited fines on negligent organisations.

Third Sector (April 9) reports government estimates that the Act could increase prosecutions tenfold. About 28,000 incorporated charities could be affected.

James Price, a disputes lawyer at Farrer & Co, describes the Act as possibly the most significant health and safety legislation for 30 years and urges charities to take the appropriate precautions.

Daring deeds fall foul of law

New corporate manslaughter and homicide act could end charity events such as fun runs, bungee jumps and skydives

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Kelly Sinclair, sector leader on charity at Aon, the insurance broker, says: “Charities should make sure they have all the correct training, equipment and safety policies in place to cover any event they organise. Also think about liability. The buck always ultimately stops with the trustees but if an agency is organising an event on your behalf, you should make sure it accepts as much liability as possible.”

Small charities that don't have incorporated status will not be affected, but many larger voluntary organisations will be.

Let's hope that the legislation doesn't put a halt to the likes of Barbara Riddle, 78, a great-grandmother and charity daredevil. She recently added a 10,000ft tandem skydive to her list of high-adrenalin fundraising challenges that she has completed for RNID, the charity for deaf people. Riddle, from Aberdeenshire, has also bungee jumped, paraglided, climbed a volcano and been white-water rafting. “I love having a go at all kinds of so-called terrifying activities,” she tells Third Sector online.

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