An organisation that failed to act on a serious risk identified in an audit has been fined $160,000 over a death, while two related businesses have been fined a total of $250,000 for unsafely failing to comply with engineering drawings for a major project, and disregarding a regulator's request for information.
Three companies and an individual face maximum fines totalling more than $10.5 million, in what could be the first finalised prosecutions under Western Australia's version of the national model WHS laws.
A court has convicted and fined an employer $450,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace, resulting in an "entirely foreseeable" death, and reminded companies that safety laws require them to proactively prevent and address safety risks, rather than waiting for near misses to alert them to dangers.
An appeals court has confirmed that a step's defective non-slip strip, which was missed by safety inspections, remained in place through the negligence of two companies and caused a worker to fall, entitling him to more than $1 million in damages.
A company accused of failing to reassess risk controls, following "material deviations" from earlier assessments, has avoided prosecution by committing more than $1 million to safety initiatives, including a trial of autonomous inspection vehicles.
