EMPLOYERS WOULD FACE tough new penalties for workplace safety breaches, including jail terms and hefty fines for first offences, under a review of Victoria’s occupational health and safety laws
EMPLOYERS WOULD FACE tough new penalties for workplace safety breaches, including jail terms and hefty fines for first offences, if recommendations made in a review of Victoria’s occupational health and safety laws are implemented.
Chris Maxwell, QC, who conducted the independent review of Victoria’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (1985), also called for union officials to be allowed entry into workplaces to check for safety problems and for incentives to boost safety compliance such as WorkCover rebates.
The report also called for an overhaul of the Victorian WorkCover Authority to give equal weight to safety and compensation concerns, along with new safety representatives to improve consultation with employers across different workplaces.
It found that OHS penalties in New South Wales and Queensland were considerably higher, and called for bigger penalties in Victoria to boost safety compliance.
The maximum penalty for breaches of Victoria’s OHS laws is $250,000 for companies and $50,000 for individuals, while the equivalent penalties in NSW are $550,000 and $55,000 respectively.
Maxwell also said it was inappropriate that jail terms were currently only available for repeat offenders and called for custodial sentences for employers in cases of “high-level culpability”. The current maximum jail term for a breach of Victoria OHS laws is five years.
He said employers who were worried about safety had nothing to fear from his report and warned against “scaremongering” by employers in relation to penalties such as jail terms and fines.
The Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) responded cautiously to the report, saying time will be needed to assess its key recommendations.
“A number of recommendations of the government’s recent review of [OHS] legislation could affect the business investment climate and will need to be carefully assessed,” said Neil Coulson, CEO of VECCI.
The Australian Industry Group welcomed the review’s findings, claiming the recommendations would improve OHS legislation in the state.
“Industry welcomes recommendations on implementing systems of incentives and rewards,” said Ai Group Victorian director Timothy Piper.
Tony Morris, director of OHS consultancy The Brief Group, said workplace safety programs will take on greater significance if the new recommendations are adopted, due to the more acute risks and rewards the recommendations to the Act propose.
Unions welcomed the review, urging employers to give the report a “fair go” and not engage in scaremongering.
The report, which is open for public comment until early June, calls for:
• Employers to have a duty to consult with all workers on safety issues.
• Jail terms to be available for OHS offences involving a high level of culpability.
• WorkCover inspectors to be allowed to give advice on how to comply with OHS laws.
• A substantial increase in fines for OHS Act breaches.
• Alternative sentencing options to be available, including enforceable undertakings to fix safety hazards.
• Limited rights for union safety officials to enter workplaces to check for safety problems.
• An overhaul of the WorkCover Authority to give more weight to safety concerns.
• Incentives for OHS Act compliance, including WorkCover premium rebates and safety awards.
• New roving safety representatives to improve consultation on workplace safety across sites in an industry.
