Mike's Minute: Is the boss responsible for a death in a major company?

Not a lot of coverage has been given to the failed appeal by Tony Gibson. 

He was the head of the Port of Auckland, a worker died and he was charged under health and safety and found guilty. 

It was the Health and Safety at Work Act of 2015, and he was the first person of a large operation to be charged and found guilty under it. 

This in no way takes away from the tragedy and seriousness of the accident. 

But the question for us all though, is can you reasonably hold a single person responsible in a company where so many people, if you were looking to cast a wide net, potentially could also be responsible? 

And if you can, what sort of chilling effect does that have around the running of large companies in which you can potentially be held to account for Lord knows what? 

The court found he had overall responsibility, which in theory is not unfair. It’s the buck-stops-at-the-top argument. 

But what about the board? What is the point in having management and managerial responsibility if it all eventually gets sheeted back up top? 

In a business where safety is a key aspect of operation, you presumably have people and groups, or committees, that operate procedures and rules. 

What level, if any, of responsibility do they hold, or share? 

Can one person really be held to account for the singular accident, on one day, in one incident, in a company of hundreds, or potentially thousands? 

And if you answer 'yes', as the court seems to have, then how does a CEO change the way they approach the running of that business? 

Are they risk averse? Do they take longer to make decisions? Does progress get slowed as we guess, second guess, then guess one more time just in case? 

Do you overspend or invest in areas "just in case"? How much sleep do you lose doing all this? 

If the rules around being on a board are increasingly arduous, and they are, is making life as a CEO harder, productive? 

Or is finding a single person culpable for any event in the workplace an easy out, of a complex problem allowing everyone else to wash their hands? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
There's not a lot of coverage has been given to

(00:01):
the failed appeal by Tony Gibson. Now, he was the
head of the Port of Auckland. A worker died. You
might remember he was charged under Health and safety and
found guilty. Now it was the Health and Safety Act
of twenty fifteen. He was the first person of a
large corporation to be charged and found guilty under it. Now,
this in no way takes away from the tragedy and
seriousness of the accident. But the question for all of

(00:22):
us is can you reasonably hold a single person responsible
in a company where so many people if you are
looking to cast a wide net potentially could also be
And if you can, what sort of chilling effect does
that have around the running of a large company in
which you can potentially be held to account for Lord
knows what the court found he had overall responsibility, which
in theory is not unfair. It's the buck stops at

(00:42):
the top argument. But what about the board and what
is the point in having management and manageriary responsibility? If
it all eventually gets sheeter back to one person. Anyway,
in a business where safety is a key aspect of operation,
you presumably have people and groups or committees that operate
procedures and rules. What level, if any, of responsibility do
they hold or share? Can one person really be held

(01:04):
to account for the singular accident on a single day
and a single incident in a company of hundreds or
potentially thousands of people? And if you answer as the
court seems to have, yes, then how does the CEO
change the way they approach the running of that particular business?
Are they risk averse? Do they take longer to make decisions?
Does progress get slowed as we guess, second, guess, and
then guess one more time just in case? Do you

(01:27):
overspend or invest in areas just in case? How much
sleep do you lose doing all of this? If the
rules around being on a board are increasingly arduous, and
they are, is making life as a CEO harder productive?
Or is finding a single person culpable for any event
in the workplace and easy out of a complex problem
allowing everyone else to wash their hands. For more from

(01:47):
the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talk Set
B from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.