Townsville dad Michael Garrels slams safety law change sparked by son’s Clermont workplace death
A Queensland father has slammed changes to workplace safety laws, warning they could unravel the hard-fought accountability measures introduced after his son’s preventable electrocution.
Mackay
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A Queensland father whose son died in a preventable workplace electrocution has slammed changes to safety reporting laws, warning the changes would unravel hard-fought reforms.
Michael Garrels said he was “disgusted” by the government’s push to streamline how serious safety incidents on building sites were reported.
In 2012 Jason Garrels, 20, was killed nine days into his new job at a Clermont construction site that a coroner later deemed to have safety breaches that directly caused his death.
As a result the contracting electrician responsible, Nathan Day, was jailed for seven years for manslaughter in the state’s first case of that type.
The tragedy helped spark new regulations that legally required contractors to report serious incidents twice – once to the Workplace Health and Safety regulator and again to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.
Mr Garrels, from Townsville, said the dual reporting was crucial because the QBCC wasn’t even aware of his son’s death or the principal contractor’s safety breaches because of poor communication between regulators.
“It was very hard to establish that precedent,” he said.
He also pushed for the creation of “Jason’s Law” that required employers to take full and even criminal responsibility for safety failures in workplace and included forming a consultative committee for work-related fatalities and serious incidents.
But now he feared the new bill would be a “dangerous” step backwards.
“To say I’m disgusted is not even close to how I feel,” Mr Garrels said.
introduced legislation to end the double-reporting system, saying while it made sense at the time it now caused confusion, delays, and the risk of missed details.
Under the new bill licensees only needed to report to the WHS regulator, who would then pass the information to the QBCC using a tested, secure process.
“We are removing duplication, not responsibility,” Housing and Public Works minister Sam O’Connor said during a parliamentary sitting.
But Mr Garrels said this meant, “we’re back to square one.
“They’re removing the one thing that made them take action,” he said.
Mr Garrels also criticised the government for failing to consult the committee that helped shape “Jason’s Law”, saying families like his were shut-out of decisions that impact future safety.
He was concerned no consultative committee had met since late 2024 because deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie had not ticked off on appointments.
Following questions from this publication Mr Bleijie confirmed on Friday that new appointments had been approved.
A Department of Housing and Public Works spokeswoman said the new bill retained two key reporting requirements – incidents causing serious harm on building sites under a licensee’s control, and breaches of safety notices issued under workplace or electrical safety laws.
“The QBCC will still be notified — but by the WHS regulator, using tested, reliable administrative channels which have been established and improved in the near-decade since the original amendment,” she said.
Instead of providing two reports to two regulators, this important information would be shared directly and securely from a single point of contact, she said.