Updates to Industrial Manslaughter Offences

Since our last update (see here), both New South Wales and Tasmania have now legislated to make industrial manslaughter an offence, meaning it is now an offence in every Australian jurisdiction. This final instalment in the legislative reform to industrial manslaughter offences serves as a useful reminder that it is critical for employers and businesses to review and assess the effectiveness of their health and safety measures.

Specifically, the law reforms have emphasised the health and safety responsibilities which businesses have, the steps they must take to discharge these duties, and highlight the significant consequences which may be imposed if they are found to be non-compliant.

What is Industrial Manslaughter?

Whilst the specific definition of industrial manslaughter and the element of fault varies across the jurisdictions, the offence generally concerns reckless or negligent conduct (or inaction) by an employer or business which results in the death of a worker or other person to whom a duty of care is owed.

We previously outlined the differences between the industrial manslaughter offences across each jurisdiction in this article. This table has been updated below to reflect the recent introduction of industrial manslaughter offences in NSW and Tasmania.

Impact and Recommendations

While the legislative reforms are in their infancy stage, we have already seen the courts take a robust approach in response to breaches of work health and safety duties, frequently imposing substantial fines on employers and businesses. To reduce the risks of imprisonment and heavy fines, it is essential that employers ensure compliance with their health and safety obligations.

We recommend that businesses review, and where necessary, take steps to strengthen their safety management systems to ensure that they are compliant with their health and safety obligations. Additionally, regular and comprehensive workplace safety training is essential.

HR Legal offers tailored training courses that can help businesses and their employees to understand the importance of ensuring health and safety in the workplace, and the consequences of failing to meet these obligations. Some of the key training we provide includes:

• Critical Incident Management training: This training provides managers and people leaders with practical understanding of business procedures and the legal risk of non-compliance with work health and safety obligations.
• Moot Courts: At HR Legal we recognise that it can be difficult to envision your own business being involved in a WorkSafe prosecution. To illustrate this, we craft a hypothetical WorkSafe prosecution in a mock court setting that is unique and customised to the employer’s business. This practical and immersive learning experience helps employers and participants to appreciate how such situations may arise in their own unique workplaces, and the steps they need to take to proactively manage workplace health and safety obligations.

If you are interested in either of these training courses, or if you require advice regarding workplace health and safety obligations, contact the team at HR Legal today.

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This article was produced by HR Legal. It is intended to provide general information only in summary format on legal issues. It does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on as such.