Company Director Sentenced to Record Imprisonment Term

A company director has been sentenced to the longest imprisonment term ever imposed for a work health and safety offence in Australia, after he was charged and convicted over a fatal fall.

The West Australian company has also received a State record high fine of $605,000.

The Court sentenced the director to two years and two months’ jail – he will serve eight months of the sentence immediately, with the remaining 18 months suspended for 12 months.

This is the first time a person has been jailed under Western Australia’s safety laws.

On the day of the incident, the two workers were installing roof sheets on a large machinery shed they were constructing on a farm for agricultural purposes without safety control measures in place.

A strong wind or willy-willy lifted a sheet from the pack of roof sheets they were working near, causing them both to fall from a significant height.

One worker fell nine metres from the roof and sustained fatal injuries. The other worker fell seven metres and suffered fractures to his pelvis, hip, wrist, and ribs.

The employer pleaded guilty to breaching its duties as an employer in circumstances of gross negligence – the director pleaded guilty to allowing gross negligence to occur with his consent or through his neglect.

Gross negligence is considered the most serious offence under the State Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Darren Kavanagh said the director “completely failed in every sense to provide a safe workplace for his employees, and as a consequence, a young man lost his life and a family lost a loved one.”

“The State Government is committed to improving workplace safety laws, including ensuring that significant penalties are available to provide incentive to comply with these laws and ensure that community expectations are met.”

“Even so, there are no winners in situations like these.”