Victorian employers could be jailed up to 20 years and fined $16.5 million if their staff contract coronavirus at work and die as a result, under the state’s newly introduced industrial manslaughter laws.
Alex White and Kieran Rooney,
July 30, 2020
HERALDSUN.COM.AU
Victorian employers could be jailed up to 20 years and fined $16.5 million if their staff contract coronavirus at work and die as a result.
Workplace Safety Minister Jill Hennessy has confirmed employers can be prosecuted for failing in their duty of care when it came to the spread of infection.
She said employers could be charged using the state’s newly introduced industrial manslaughter laws, if it is proven the employer contributed to the death of their worker.
“Our workplace manslaughter laws mean that employers who negligently breach their duties, causing the death of their workers, can be prosecuted and potentially go to jail,” she said.
“Those duties include providing a safe and healthy workplace.”
It comes after a string of disputes over public health advice in a number of workplaces in Geelong and the nearby regions.
Workers at Turosi’s Golden Farm’s abattoir were told to isolate due to a cluster before being given a special exemption to attend work for cleaning purposes.
And an Australian Lamb Company worker in Colac, who tested positive to the virus, was told by the department they could leave their home despite having finished just 10 days of their 14-day quarantine.
The department told the Herald Sun this was “within regulations” because the person had stopped displaying symptoms for more than three days.
Premier Daniel Andrews flagged on Thursday that workplaces remained one of the biggest concerns when it came to transmission.
He identified several sectors of concern including aged care, meat works, distribution and logistics centres and cleaning firms.
He has also previously warned employers found to have not been enforcing social distancing and mask wearing in the workplace would face fines of $9,913 and WorkSafe and Emergency Victoria teams had been deployed to carry out on-the-spot-checks.
The Herald Sun can also confirm 17 people have made WorkSafe coronavirus claims against their worksite.
Although, it is not known if any of the 105 deaths in Victoria so far have been linked to a work setting.
The government declined to outline what would constitute negligent behaviour.
The new laws were introduced into Victorian Parliament last year in the response to increasing workplace deaths and came into effect on July 1.
The legislation covers a range of workplace issues from diseases to mental health matters including suicide.
WorkSafe Victoria was also given added powers to investigate the new offence and funded under a $10 million package.
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