Untrained worker’s fatal fall leads to industrial manslaughter conviction

In one of the largest penalties handed down in Victoria, Risham Nominees Pty Ltd, trading as Centenary Bakehouse, was fined $3,400,000 for criminal industrial manslaughter for the death of a worker who fell from heights after being tasked with making upgrades to the workplace ceiling.

The incident

In 2021, works were underway to remove and replace insulation panels from the ceiling of the workplace. These upgrades were to take place in the warehouse, which consisted of a prover room and an oven/cooler room.

To undertake the upgrade, workers were required to access the roofs of the prover and oven/cooler rooms, with a limited clearance of about 1 metre between the roofs of the two rooms. They were told by the company that no qualifications were needed to perform the work.

Before performing the task, the company did not provide the workers with any specific instructions about working at heights. The workers were simply told to do the job safely and be careful not to fall. No scaffolding was put in place.

During the course of the work, a worker fell, suffering fatal head injuries.

Following the incident, the company engaged an independent contractor to provide a birdcage scaffold system and remove the panels. The cost of the scaffolding system was $34,249.02.

The judgment

In imposing the substantial fine on the company, the Court noted that it was reasonably practicable to reduce the known and foreseeable risk of injury by using an independent scaffold system, such as a birdcage scaffold.

The conduct of the company was negligent, in that it involved a great falling short of the standard of care that would have been taken by a reasonable person in the circumstances, and that the sentence imposed must reinforce the importance of an employer’s obligation to provide a safe working environment for its employees and other persons, and that financial consequences are serious when safety is not front of mind.

The Court was satisfied that, while there was not a blatant disregard for safety, the negligent conduct was not an isolated departure but resulted from a system devised by the employer that gave inadequate consideration to the risk of falling.

Federal Government rushes through Fair Work reforms to ease FWC backlog
The Federal Government will amend the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) to support more efficient processes within the Fair Work Commission ...