Proposed Industrial Manslaughter Laws Sends ‘Clear Message’ to Negligent Employers: Minister

NSW Minister for Industrial Relations and Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis during Question Time in the Legislative Assembly at New South Wales Parliament House, Sydney, on Feb. 14, 2022. AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi/POOL

Employers will face severe penalties for placing lives at risk under new industrial manslaughter laws proposed by the New South Wales (NSW) state government.

Under the proposal, if an employee dies while performing their work duties, their employer will be held liable.

Currently, in NSW, worker deaths are not treated as manslaughter, with employers who expose workers to the risk of death through gross negligence facing up to five years’ jail time.

This is compared to Victoria, where any person, including the Victorian public sector, who is found guilty of workplace manslaughter will face fines of up to $16.5 million; individuals will face up to 20 years in jail.

The move by NSW will bring the state’s industrial manslaughter laws in line with those of other states and territories, most of which already have industrial manslaughter laws either in place or before parliament.

“I hope these laws act as such a strong deterrent that no one ever needs to be prosecuted. We must prevent fatal injuries in the workplace,” NSW Minister for Work, Health, and Safety, Sophie Cotsis, said in an Oct. 19 statement.

“These penalties acknowledge the significant pain and suffering of families and loved ones of workers who have died in preventable workplace incidents.”

Ms. Cotsis added that the new laws send “a clear message” to negligent employers who place a worker’s life at risk.

Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey said the proposed laws were overdue.

“Workers’ lives aren’t a commodity, and this law sends a clear message—if you neglect your duty of care to your employees, there are severe consequences,” he told AAP.

Scaffolding Company Fined ‘Peanuts’ for Worker Death

In December 2022, a Sydney scaffolding company was fined $2 million by the NSW District Court for the death of an 18-year-old male, Christopher, in 2019 when the scaffolding suddenly collapsed at a building site at Macquarie Park.

Despite the fine being the highest penalty ever recorded for a SafeWork NSW offence, Patrizia Cassaniti, mother of Christopher, said the maximum fine of $3.7 million for gross negligence leading to death was “peanuts” for a large company.

“I’m not pushing for industrial manslaughter because I want people to go to jail. I want industrial manslaughter to be put in place as a deterrent,” Ms. Cassaniti said, reported The Sydney Morning Herald.

“The punishment [in Christopher’s case] was appalling. It made me angrier. A company can move on from a fine. They can factor it into the cost of doing business. For me, it was a life sentence.”

Ms. Cotsis thanked Ms. Cassaniti for her “tireless campaigning and advocacy,” which led to the state introducing the new industrial manslaughter laws.

Up to 263 workers have lost their lives on the job in NSW—more than any other Australian state—in the five years leading to 2022, Unions NSW said.

Victoria Fines First Employer Under New Manslaughter Laws

On Oct. 10, Laith Hanna, the sole director and shareholder of LH Holding Management Pty Ltd, pleaded guilty to workplace manslaughter while being an officer of a body corporate that failed to take reasonable care. The place of the incident was a stone warehouse in Somerton, Victoria.

Then 25-year-old Michael Tsahrelias died after a loaded forklift operated by Mr. Hanna on a sloping driveway tipped over and landed on top of Mr. Tsahrelias.

The Victorian Supreme Court heard that Mr. Hanna was qualified to drive a forklift, but didn’t follow all the necessary precautions on Oct. 12, 2021, reported The Herald Sun.

Mr. Hanna maneuvered the forklift on a slope, a move discouraged by safety courses and manuals as it can lead to a greater risk of tipping.

Mr. Hanna also allowed Mr. Tsahrelias to be too close to the forklift. According to WorkSafe, a three-metre exclusion zone should be kept between the forklift and workers.

The court heard that Mr. Tsahrelias was steadying the load on the forklift when it tipped over and pinned him to the ground.

The court also heard that Mr. Hanna warned Mr. Tsahrelias to not be in the forklift’s way before the incident.

CPR was performed, but Mr. Tsahrelias was unable to be revived.

Mr. Tsahrelias’ father told the court he did not want to live and felt that he had failed in his duty as a father to protect his son.

“If I hadn’t encouraged him to work in the industry he would not be dead,” a statement read to the court said.

“Every day I think of ways to end my life. I have fragmented into a million pieces and crumbled apart.”

The court heard Mr. Hanna was overwhelmed with sadness and regret.

“I hope that one day Mr. Tsahrelias’ family will forgive me but I will struggle to ever forgive myself,” Mr. Hanna said.

The case against Mr. Hanna was the first of its kind to be prosecuted after Victoria’s new workplace manslaughter laws were introduced in July 2020.