State ALP conference: crackdown on workplace deaths if re-elected

EMPLOYERS could face up to 20 years in jail if their negligence leads to a worker’s death, with the Andrews Government to extend manslaughter laws if re-elected.

Premier Daniel Andrews. File picture: Nicole Garmston

EMPLOYERS whose negligence leads to the death of a worker will face up to 20 years jail under news laws proposed by the State Government.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced that if re-elected he would extend manslaughter laws to cover workplace deaths.

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While making his announcement, Mr Andrews referenced the death of two workers in Ballarat this year in a trench collapse and three passers-by in Swanston St in 2013, when a brick wall toppled over on them.

Under the change he announced at the State ALP conference today, employers will also face fines of almost $16 million if they are held responsible for causing a death in a workplace.

Mr Andrews said the changes would not just apply to a company’s employees but to visiting suppliers or maintenance workers or innocent passers by who may be killed due to a company’s negligence.

“It couldn’t be more simple. No one should die at work,” he said.

Mr Andrews said he hoped the laws were never used, but with 234 workplace deaths in the past decade in Victoria, he said tougher penalties were needed to make employers take the safety of workers seriously and not to rely on their deep pockets to avoid accountability for cutting corners

“These laws will help make sure that every Victorian makes it home to their loved ones,” Mr Andrews said.

“Families who have lost a loved one at work deserve justice — and that means jail, not a slap on the wrist.”