Industrial Manslaughter legislation – are you ready?

The Waste Management Review has presented an excellent article written by Brittany Coles on the changes to Industrial Manslaughter legislation.

The Waste Recycling Industry Association of Queensland, together with lawyers Minter Ellison, have broken down these changes so that Australian businesses can be forewarned and prepared.

Essentially, our understanding is that in Victoria and the Northern Territory, the legislation states that an employer is responsible for the safety of all people (employees and others) who come to a worksite and in the event of a death, must be able to prove that they weren’t negligent to avoid the offence of industrial manslaughter.  Other states have determined that non-employees on a work site are owed duty of care, but fall short saying that the death of a non-employee on site is industrial manslaughter.  NSW does not have a specific industrial manslaughter offence, per se, but has amended their Crimes Act 1900 to state that the death of a person at work can constitute manslaughter.  Tasmania to date does not have any specific industrial manslaughter laws.

This is a must-read piece for all organisations.  To read the full article in the Waste Management Review, click here