2 million reasons why businesses must take workplace safety seriously

As of 9 November 2023, 132 workers in Australia have lost their lives while on the job, with 41 of those casualties occurring in NSW. Every worker, regardless of industry or job, deserves to feel safe at work and return home safely every day.

In 2019, A1 Arbor Tree Services Pty Ltd was completing a job on the grounds of a Lindfield school when a 40-year-old man was fatally injured whilst carrying out his job.

Here our experts explain why this case resulted in the single largest court-imposed fine for a business in NSW, and why it’s a reminder for businesses to take workplace safety seriously.

The details of the case

On 7 September 2019, a NSW-based business was carrying out the removal of trees from school grounds when workmates noticed their 40-year-old colleague was missing. He had been hand-feeding branches into the woodchipper before blood was found on the back of the truck.

A SafeWork NSW investigation resulted in the single largest fine for a business in the state, handed down by District Court Judge Wendy Strathdee on 14 July 2023.

The Court heard the wood chipping machine the victim was using had been designed to be fed with a mechanical log loader, and never by hand. A warning was written on both sides of the equipment: ‘Danger, do not hand feed this machine … severe injury or death can result’.

The decision

The Court found that the business didn’t complete a risk assessment of the machinery being used even after recognising that it had known defects. Judge Strathdee concluded that the company failed to provide employees with adequate information, training, or instruction in relation to safely operating machinery including the woodchipper at the centre of this case.

Pleading guilty, the business received a 25 per cent discount which reduced the original $3 million fine to $2.25 million. It is unclear whether the business will appeal the decision.

What does the law say?

It should be noted that NSW is the only remaining mainland state that doesn’t currently recognise industrial manslaughter in its model Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws. However, earlier this year the NSW State Government signalled its intention to table laws that will drastically beef up the consequences and punishments for negligent employers in the State by imposing significant jail time for employers who are found liable for the death of an employee.

This announcement will bring NSW into line with other Australian States that already treat workplace deaths as manslaughter. In Victoria, an individual who’s found guilty of workplace manslaughter faces fines of upwards of $16 million and 20 years jail and, similarly, in Queensland negligent employers face up to 20 years in prison.

It was only in 2022 that similar laws in Queensland resulted in the owner of a small generator servicing business becoming the first person in the State to serve jail time since the enactment of the State’s industrial manslaughter laws in 2017.