The Victorian Workplace Safety Legislation Amendment (Workplace Manslaughter and Other Matters) Bill 2019 includes fines of up to 100,000 penalty units currently equating to $16,522,000 for bodies corporate, and jail terms of up to 20 years for company officers, who negligently cause a work-related death.

In the second reading of the Bill last week, Victorian Workplace Safety Minister Jill Hennessy said the proposed changes to the State OHS Act are broadly based on Queensland’s industrial manslaughter provisions, with “important modifications” to capture a broader category of offenders and victims.

“Organisations could be prosecuted for workplace manslaughter where their conduct amounts to criminal negligence either directly – where “unwritten rules, policies, work practices or conduct fail to create a culture of compliance” with the OHS Act – or through the actions or omissions of employees, agents or contractors acting within the actual or apparent scope of their employment”.

Corporate Officers – like company directors, partners and others who make decisions affecting a substantial part of the relevant organisation – may be found guilty of workplace manslaughter where their negligent fatality-causing conduct constitutes a breach of the organisation’s duties under the Act, she said.

According to the Bill’s explanatory notes, the new offence captures negligent workplace conduct that contributes significantly to a person sustaining an injury or contracting an illness like a mental illness that later causes the person’s death.

It also may capture conduct that occurs outside Victoria but results in a workplace fatality in Victoria, and conduct that occurs inside Victoria but causes a workplace death in another jurisdiction.

The new offences do not apply to: organisations where fatalities result from “rogue” employees acting outside the scope of their employment; or employees who aren’t officers.

The objective of the Amendment Bill is “to hold to account those with the power and resources to improve safety”, the Minister told Parliament.

However, employees and volunteers who cause a death through criminal negligence can be prosecuted under existing criminal laws, she noted.

The Bill, if passed, will commence on a day to be proclaimed, or 1 July 2020 at the latest.

Meanwhile, in QLD, a PCBU accused of failing to separate pedestrians from mobile plant has become the first entity to be charged with industrial manslaughter under section 34C of the Queensland WHS Act. Its two company directors were charged with reckless conduct.

The PCBU, Brisbane Auto Recycling Pty Ltd, could be fined up to $10 million for negligently causing the death of a worker, who was struck by a reversing forklift at a wrecking yard in Rocklea in May this year.

Victorian Businesses should be preparing for these potential new laws by facilitating a formal review of their high level hazards and risks that may result in a potential workplace fatality and ensure the controls in place are fully effective.

The Victorian Chamber's Health Safety and Wellbeing team are highly qualified and experienced in reviewing, preparing and improving your procedures and practices, and upskilling your staff in these complex safety management needs.

For more information and support for this area of HSW consulting, training and other support please contact us on 03 8662 5333 or hsw@victorianchamber.com.au to discuss your needs.