Work Health and Safety (Industrial Manslaughter) Amendment Bill – Second Reading speech
Thursday 2 November 2023
S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (17:38): I rise to speak on the Work Health and Safety (Industrial Manslaughter) Amendment Bill. I would like to start by acknowledging all those women and men who have lost their lives at work. Every South Australian has a right and a fair expectation that, when they go to work, they will come home safe.
This bill delivers on the government's election commitment to introduce an offence of industrial manslaughter in South Australia. On average, a dozen South Australians die every year at work, with roughly three-quarters of these deaths occurring in just three areas: primary industries, transport and construction.
Employers in these industries need to do all they can to ensure the safety of their employees. This includes guaranteeing that primary industry workers have appropriate safety training and equipment to protect them from death or injury.
In the transport industry employers need to make certain that the vehicles their employees drive are safe and roadworthy, and that they do not apply pressure on their employees to meet unrealistic time lines. The construction industry is inherently risky due to the heights, materials and machinery involved; however, it can be safe if employers and workers combine together to ensure the safety of all employees.
While accidents do happen, the first responsibility of every employer is that they provide a safe workplace. This bill sends a clear message to all employers who are reckless or grossly negligent with their workers' health and safety that they will be held to account. A person can be convicted of industrial manslaughter if they breach a health and safety duty, either recklessly or with gross negligence, and this causes the death of another person. This includes the primary duty of care of a person conducting a business or undertaking to ensure, as far as reasonably practical, the health and safety of the workers they engage.
We are not speaking of accidents in this bill but of recklessness or gross negligence, people deliberately endangering the lives of workers in our state. The purpose of this bill is to deter unsafe work practices; additionally, we recognise the significant and traumatic loss suffered by the families of victims of workplace tragedies.
It is important to note that this bill does not introduce any new legal obligations on employers that they do not already have. Every employer currently has the responsibility to ensure the safety of their workers. This bill ensures that there is an appropriate penalty when those obligations are breached.
The bill is the product of extensive consultation with businesses, with unions and with health and safety experts, and now brings South Australia into line with other jurisdictions, including Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT, all of which have introduced industrial manslaughter legislation. The bill is drafted to be consistent with most states and territories. Commonwealth, state and territory work health and safety ministers also agreed earlier this year that industrial manslaughter will form part of the model national laws.
The maximum penalties under this bill are a fine of up to $18 million for companies and imprisonment for up to 20 years for individuals. This should act as a significant disincentive for those in our community who do not value and prioritise the safety and lives of workers. There is no place for recklessness or gross negligence in our workplaces.
I encourage all workers to join their union, to ensure their workplace has trained work health and safety reps, and to report any safety concerns they have regarding their workplace to their managers, their health and safety reps, or SafeWork SA. I would like to thank all union reps, our trade union movement and SafeWork SA for the work they do raising and investigating safety issues. I commend the bill to the house.
