Businesses fined $900,000 following electrocution of owner's son

In a tragic case, an electrical business, and a related business, were fined together almost $900,000, following the electrocution of an unsupervised apprentice, who was the son of one of the owners.

In the Victorian case of WorkSafe Victoria v Nordic Elevators; Nordic Elevator Services (2025), the Court acknowledged that the owner of the business had suffered enough with the loss of his son, however it was important that significant fines be imposed as a deterrent to all employers.

The companies had operated for a number of years with a lack of supervision of apprentices, coupled with a practice of allocating jobs to workers that did not clearly differentiate between jobs that required a qualified electrician or not.

On the occasion of the incident, the work task of repairing an apartment lift required electrical expertise, including knowledge of how to isolate the power from the lift. The task had initially been allocated to another worker, who was unavailable and suggested that the apprentice take his place. The unavailable worker, who also was not suitably qualified, told the apprentice to just not touch anything electrical.

During the course of the repair, the apprentice failed to isolate the door-detector power unit and was electrocuted, only being found many hours later by his father.

In imposing the fines of $300,000 and $580,000 on the two companies, the Court noted the evidence that the businesses for many years had ignored concerns raised by workers about unqualified apprentices doing electrical work.

Had a plea not been entered, the Court would have imposed fines totalling $1.3 million.

What is reasonable notice of employment termination?
A contract of ongoing permanent employment is terminable by the employer or employee giving the other party a period of notice of intention to terminate the contract ...