Login
Directors warned of ‘falling foul’ of new industrial manslaughter laws
Boards and directors are being warned to get up to speed with new industrial manslaughter laws or risk breaching workplace safety among staff.
Emma Musgrave
Global risk management provider, SAI Global, has warned companies to be wary of the new laws legislated in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and the ACT, which place legal liability “squarely at the feet of the C-suite and company directors for industrial manslaughter".
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Under the new laws, SAI Global workplace safety expert Kiran Bhagat noted, organisations must ensure their compliance to OHS laws is “over and above current standards and aim to meet and exceed international standards as a safeguard”.
“The highest-ranking leaders in an organisation must be proactively involved in these processes,” he said.
Mr Bhagat described the penalties under the new laws as unprecedented, noting in Victoria, it is a maximum of 25 years’ imprisonment for individuals and a maximum fine of $16.5 million for companies, while in the NT penalties could be life imprisonment and fines up to $10.08 million.
In Western Australia, he added, the maximum penalty is up to 20 years’ imprisonment for individuals and fines of up to $10 million for companies.
“The ACT was the first State to enact an industrial manslaughter law, with penalties currently sitting at $1.62 million for a body corporate or $320,000 for an individual, or 20 years’ imprisonment (or both),” Mr Bhagat said.
“In Queensland, directors could face up to 20 years’ imprisonment, and organisations could receive fines exceeding $10 million.”
The changes have forced accountability among boards and directors, according to Mr Bhagat.
“It is no longer acceptable for company directors to delegate workplace safety, or pass the blame, to management representatives,” he said.
“As the most senior figureheads of an organisation, they are accountable for the actions of their employees, and the penalties stand to have a profound personal impact on their lives. It is the reason why certification to ISO 45001 – the latest international standard to which thousands of organisations are certified – is the most effective approach to complying with the requirements of the new industrial manslaughter laws.
“Under both the law and the standard, business leaders must be directly involved, take a preventative approach, and ensure involvement from workers and contractors. Everyone must have a voice. OHS must become a part of an organisation’s management commitments. Agenda items in management and board meeting should include a review of OHS procedures, accidents and near-misses, directive actions such as training to mitigate risks, creating opportunities for a safer workplace and documentation requirements. Directors and board members must also be involved in training.
“Previously, OHS performance was driven by policy. Now there are additional required commitments – particularly the elimination of all hazards. Overall, rather than a procedures-based approach, now best practice is to take a systems-based approach.
“If the appropriate stakeholders in a business understand, promote and implement robust workplace safety systems and ensure they undertake specialised training, they could make a real impact to reducing the risk of workplace accidents, injuries or fatalities.”
