Labour has come up with a policy that I think is actually meaningful and would hold employers more accountable for workplace deaths.

Labour has announced that, if elected, it will introduce a corporate homicide charge. Which would mean, if a worker died on the job, their employer could be charged with homicide.

The punishments would be pretty hefty. An individual could end up with a life prison sentence and companies could be hit with fines of up to $10 million.

And about time. Because even though our health & safety laws have been beefed-up after Pike River, the punishments dished-out haven’t kept up.

And Labour wants to change that.

The party’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson, Jan Tinetti, says, even though New Zealand has one of the highest rates of workplace deaths in the developed world, employers can’t be held as accountable as they should be.

She says Labour wants to deliver what the Pike River families have been calling for for years. Which is the ability to charge employers with homicide.

Sonya Rockhouse, whose son Ben was killed at Pike River, is saying today that Labour’s policy announcement today is fantastic news.

She says: “People who are in charge and who knowingly make the workplace unsafe, they need to be held to account.”

Now, let’s say this went ahead and corporate homicide was a thing, it wouldn’t necessarily deliver what the likes of the Pike River families have wanted.

Which, if we’re honest, is to see the former mine boss taken to the cleaners.

Which makes the timing of today’s announcement interesting.

Because, only three weeks ago, the NZ Herald reported that Crown prosecutors were considering police recommendations on possible charges relating to Pike River.

The Herald said at the time that it understood manslaughter charges were among the charges being considered. So where this Labour policy fits with that, I’m not sure.

Either way, I like it.

As Sonya Rockhouse from the Pike River families is saying, just the threat of a life sentence or a massive fine would be enough for most employers to make sure their health & safety is up to scratch.

I’m realistic, though, and know that, if this went ahead, not all corporate homicide charges would stick.

Because guilt can’t always be proven. And that can leave people somewhat disillusioned.

Depending on the situation, a corporate homicide charge could be very difficult to prove. For example, proving that the boss of an outfit actually knew about a particular risk in the workplace before someone was killed wouldn’t always be easy.

Nevertheless, I think the ability to lay a corporate homicide charge would move things on from where they are at the moment. So it gets my support.

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