Compliance and Victimization in Health, Safety, and Environment Management Systems

Abstract

By taking into account the full range of contexts involving a relationship between victims and corporations, this chapter investigates the role of corporate compliance in preventing primary and repeated victimization in the field of crimes pertaining to safety in workplace and environmental crimes. In the first part, the chapter sets out the forms of victimization typically caused by so-called corporate violence and identifies the health, safety, and environment (HSE) management standards which are the compliance references used in managing the risks which lie at the root of such misconduct. The standards have attained an impressive degree of harmonization on a global scale. The motivations for and benefits of adopting them are analyzed in the light of regulatory frameworks as well as economic or organizational factors. In the second part, the chapter aims to demonstrate that the implementation of an HSE management system compliant with the international standards, together with a victim-sensitive attitude, allows not only the better prevention of adverse events but also the better handling of the resulting forms of victimization. To this end, the provisions of the most common international HSE standards that specifically deal with victims’ or potential victims’ rights, needs, and expectations are examined. Limitations in implementing the requirements and expected improvements are also investigated.