The issue of criminal responsibility for workplace deaths has generated debate in NSW and nationally for many years. In October 2023, the NSW Government announced that it would introduce an industrial manslaughter offence in the first half of 2024, with severe penalties for serious work health and safety breaches that result in death, that also include and apply to directors of the business.
The purpose of the paper is to put the proposed reforms in their current and historical context. The paper discusses the general criminal offence of manslaughter, outlines the key offences in current work health and safety laws, summarises the debate, and examines industrial manslaughter laws in other Australian jurisdictions.
Key Points:
- The most serious offence in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011(NSW) is the Category 1 offence of engaging in conduct with gross negligence or recklessness that exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury or illness. The maximum penalty is 5 years imprisonment for an individual and a fine of $4 million for a corporation. From 1 July 2024, the maximum penalty will increase to 10 years imprisonment for an individual and $10.4 million for a corporation.
- In the general criminal law, there is an offence of manslaughter by criminal negligence, which has a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. In NSW, it appears that there has only been one successful prosecution of this offence in the context of a workplace death.
- In October 2023, the NSW Government announced that it would introduce industrial manslaughter laws with severe penalties for serious work health and safety breaches that result in death.
Source:- https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Pages/Industrial-manslaughter-laws.aspx