• acockworkorange@mander.xyz
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    2 days ago

    I was a chemical process safety specialist once, not in the US. The Hazards Analysis team has, in that jurisdiction, criminal responsibility of identifying reasonable risks according to industry best practice. Someone with executive power is appointed within the company to bear criminal responsibility for executing the HA recommendations in a timely manner, usually a site manager.

    So let’s say a toxic release happens and people have to be hospitalized and there’s death to river fauna and flora. The company bears financial and civil responsibility for it. But the people in the HA team and the company executive bear criminal responsibility.

    I actually worked under a site manager that had to answer a criminal case for a pollution incident. The the people were acquitted (and rightfully so, there was no negligence nor malice), and the company had to pay environmental recovery and a fine.

    You can bet that manager was on top of all safety and environmental studies on that site.