Workplace manslaughter case contributes to $13.3m haul, as new fatality charges laid

WorkSafe Victoria today said that across 109 prosecutions and 10 accepted enforceable undertakings, duty holders were required to pay a total of $13,318,433 in fines, costs and enforceable safety initiatives.

This was well down on the $16,182,657 worth of safety penalties imposed in the State in 2023, with the difference explained by the higher number of completed successful prosecutions in 2023 (153) and the fact that three companies were handed particularly hefty fines of $2.9 million, $2.1 million and $1.5 million in that year (see related article).

In 2024, the highest fine imposed under the Victorian Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 was $1.3 million, handed to LH Holding Management Pty Ltd in the State's first workplace manslaughter conviction (see related article).

That case involved the death of a worker who was crushed by a forklift that tipped over because LH Holding's director was operating the vehicle unsafely on a sloping driveway.

Other large fines imposed in the State last year included:

• $750,000, which went to Cutri Fruit Pty Ltd after a worker riding on machinery that wasn't designed to carry people fell and sustained fatal injuries (see related article);
• $650,000, handed to Saferoads Pty Ltd after a 925-kilogram iron barrier fell on and killed a delivery driver during an unloading task (see related article); and
• $545,000, which was handed to A&J Australia Pty Ltd for 16 breaches, including fire safety failures that led to staff using a flammable liquid and cardboard instead of a fire extinguisher to put out a fire on a machine and on two workers (see related article).

WorkSafe said the largest proportion of health and safety and dangerous goods prosecutions were against employers in the construction (49), manufacturing (26) and transport, postal and warehousing (10) industries.

Seventeen prosecutions were for unsafe machinery, 14 involved the risk of being crushed by or between objects, and 10 pertained to powered mobile plant like forklifts, it said.

Five employers were prosecuted for matters relating to occupational violence, bullying or harassment.

WorkSafe health and safety executive director Sam Jenkin noted his organisation's inspectors and investigators focus on industries and workplaces where workers are most at risk.

He warned that employers that "turn a blind eye to health and safety risks in their workplace play a deadly game that can lead to horrific injuries or loss of life, as well as costly legal consequences".

Importantly, Jenkin stressed that the "safest workplaces are those where employers proactively engage with workers and health and safety representatives, where available, to identify and address health and safety risks by making safety a priority for everyone".

"Duty holders need to have systems and processes in place to identify, assess and respond to work-related hazards to their physical or mental health, including the risk of violence and hazards such as bullying or harassment," he added.

In another development today, WorkSafe announced it had charged Lemitech Pty Ltd – a Lethbridge poultry farm operator – over the March 2023 death of a worker.

The 34-year-old man was working next to a conveyor belt with the guard removed, at the farm, when he became entangled in the rotating components of the tail pulley and suffered fatal crush injuries.

WorkSafe alleged Lemitech committed three breaches of section 26 ("Duties of persons who manage or control workplaces") of the OHS Act in failing to reduce the risk of serious injury or death by not: installing a fixed guard with a viewing window and other safety mechanisms on the tail pulley; installing a fixed guard on a nip point near the tail pulley; or implementing a lock-out-tag-out procedure to prevent the conveyor from operating during maintenance work.

The matter is listed for a filing hearing in the Geelong Magistrates Court on 11 February.

“This article originally appeared on OHS Alert and is reproduced with permission”