Industrial Manslaughter Warning for Operators

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Victorian shadow transport infrastructure minister David Davis has sounded a warning for operators around industrial manslaughter laws and their possible application in the future.

The existence of, or push for, industrial manslaughter legislation has taken form in different varieties in different Australian states, and its introduction to Victoria was recently an election commitment from the Labor state government.

At the Victorian Transport Association (VTA) 2019 conference, Davis describes as “frankly chilling” the way it is being framed as an offence to the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), saying it will hold employers responsible for serious casualties, even if they weren’t negligible in the event.

“We think many will be very concerned about what this [legislation] actually means,” he says.

Davis clarifies that he is not referring to industry ‘cowboys’, and that the policy being proposed is “something different to that”.

“If you are negligent as an employer, you should be on the hook. If you don’t take reasonable care or steps create a safe working environment you should be held to account.

“But what is proposed is quite different from that – a strict liability system that would see a death or injury in your workplace sheeted home to the CEO or the responsible official in the company.

“That would be a matter quite separate from whether there is any negligence or any direct responsibility. 

“You will be held strictly liable if a person dies in the workplace; the responsible person will go to jail whether it’s their fault or not.”

Davis says he feels prospective transport business owners may have second thoughts about establishing a business due to this legislation.

“This is what we’re dealing with. It’s a shift in tone, a shift in attitude to employers and we’re concerned about what that will do for investment.

“Why put your business on the line, why risk jail term, why would you invest in in a state that will penalise employers in that way?”

Davis notes it is a broader issue than just the transport sector as industrial manslaughter rules represent an “anti-business” agenda, linking the issue to unions that have pushed for such policy in the past, including the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which has previously advocated for truck-driver deaths to be viewed through the scope of a workplace accident.

“This is an anti-business agenda that this government has got,” he says.

“This is no coincidence that unions have a significant role. If I were the Premier I would not have been seen with some of the unions prior to the election. I would have been acting for all Victorians evenly, not in a partisan way in that respect.”

Source: https://www.fullyloaded.com.au/industry-news/1903/vta-conference-industrial-manslaughter-warning-for-operators.

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