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alternative orders being made by the Courts. For example, in 2018 adverse publicity orders were made in SafeWork NSW v KD & JT Westbrook Pty Ltd [2018] NSWDC 255 and an officer was required to undertake 24 hours of safety training in SafeWork NSW v Yan Huai Wu and Zenger (Aust) Pty Ltd [2018] NSWDC 211. The trend has continued into 2019 with an officer required to undertake due diligence and health and safety risk management training in SafeWork NSW v Macquarie Milling Co Pty Ltd; SafeWork NSW v Samuels [2019] NSWDC 111. We set out belowa number of developments in WHS related legislative reform in 2018 and early 2019. National The Boland Report into the review of the model WHS laws was released in February 2019. The report found that the model WHS laws are “for the most part, working as intended, but they are still settling” as regulators continue to test and refine their compliance and enforcement strategies. Despite this, the report made the following key reform recommendations to themodel WHS laws: –– expand Category 1 offences to include conduct of ‘gross negligence’ exposing a worker to a risk of death, serious injury or illness; –– introduce model industrial manslaughter laws; HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW REFORM
–– develop model sentencing guidelines for WHS prosecutions (supported in principle by the Commonwealth Government); –– make an offence for insurers and insureds who provide indemnity for WHS penalties (supported in principle by the Commonwealth Government); –– review and amend the model regulations and codes, including to deal with the identification and control of psychosocial risks; and –– increases to maximum WHS monetary penalties. The Commonwealth Government’s in principle support comes from its response to the Report of the Senate Standing Committee of Education and Employment on The Framework Surrounding the Prevention, Investigation and Prosecution of Industrial Deaths in Australia. The government has also supported the idea of developing a national database of prosecutions for workplace fatalities Queensland and Western Australia Both states increased maximum penalties for organisations under WHS laws in 2018. In Queensland, maximum penalties for corporations whose breach of mining health and safety obligations results in multiple fatalities increased from AUD 261,100 to over AUD 3.9 million. In Western Australia, maximum penalties for repeat level 4 (the most serious) safety breaches increased from AUD 625,000 to AUD 3.5 million for corporations.
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