Since the new Corporate Manslaughter Act was introduced in April, companies have had to examine the way in which they handle their health and safety procedures.

"Companies now have a clear and auditable line of management for their health and safety procedures," said Micaela Owen, marketing and training manager with Wiltshire St John Ambulance.

"Under the new act, an organisation will be guilty of an offence if the way in which its activities are managed or organised either: a) cause a person's death or b) amount to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased."

Micaela said the provision of first aid is one of the many elements that companies need to have in place.

"St John Ambulance has an unrivalled reputation for providing first aid training for the workplace and our First Aid at Work courses are attended by more than 3,000 employees from companies across Wiltshire every year.

"However, we have other skills and resources that can help companies get their health and safety procedures in order.

"We provide risk assessment courses which will train a nominated member of your company to complete a risk assessment for your business, enabling you to identify potential areas of risk and how these should be dealt with.

"In addition we provide a range of health and safety courses, all approved by IOSH, the British Safety Council and the Institute of Fire Engineers."

These include l Managing safely l Working safely l Risk Assessment l Moving and handling l Fire Marshal training "This comprehensive programme of training courses covers every angle of health and safety legislation.

"With training centres in Swindon, Devizes and Salisbury, we are in easy reach of most businesses in the county but, if numbers are adequate, we are also able to offer in-house training."

For more information on how St John Ambulance can help you comply with health and safety legislation and help you to avoid prosecution under the new Corporate Manslaughter Act, contact Micaela Owen on 01380 728362 .

Alternatively information can be found by visiting the website and searching under Corporate Manslaughter.

1:00pm Thursday 15th May 2008

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