Posted By Merv Newman French system is that senior management are individually and collectively responsable for safety. In the event of an injury they are responsable in civil and criminal law. Heavy fines and the occasional jail sentence are quite normal. Two examples : on a building site, a 25 yr old man fell 6 meters to his death. He had not attached the safety harness which he was wearing. Company owner was held to be 100% responsable as he had not ensured that adequate precautions were taken. He went to jail for 2 years (quite light actually) and his company went bankrupt. A departmental manager of the French post office contracted with a transport company for carriage of parcels. Routes were timed and maximum journey times were written into the contract. After some time, on of the vehicles killed a pedestrian. Gendarmes also measured and timed the route. Calculated that contracted time could not be respected without breaking the speed limits. Penalties inflicted were as follows : * Driver - license removed, £500 fine, 2 years suspended sentence * Transport company manager - £2 000 fine * Post office manager - £2000 fine The actual contract was pronounced to be valid in law.