Health and safety advice

Failure to comply with a safety duty
Under Part 2 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (the Act) failure to comply with work health and safety duties can lead to the following penalties:
Category 1 - Reckless conduct
Section 31 of the Act states that a person commits a category 1 offence if:
- the person has a health and safety duty; and,
- the person engages in conduct that exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury; and
- the person is reckless as to the risk.
Maximum penalty can include:
- $2,085,000, imprisonment for 10 years or both for an individual person conducting a business or undertaking or as an officer of a person conducting a business or undertaking;
- $1,042,000, imprisonment for 10 years for any other individual; or
- $10,425,000 for a body corporate.
Category 2 - Failure to comply with health and safety duty
Section 32 of the Act states that a person commits a category 2 offence if:
- the person has a health and safety duty; and,
- the person fails to comply with that duty; and
- the failure to comply exposes an individual to a risk of death or serious injury or illness.
Maximum penalty can include:
- $209,000 for an individual;
- $418,000 for an individual as a person in control of a business or undertaking or as an officer; or,
- $2,090,000 for a body corporate.
Category 3 - Failure to comply with health and safety duty
Section 33 of the Act states that a person commits a category 3 offence if:
- the person has a health and safety duty; and,
- the person fails to comply with that duty.
Maximum penalty can include:
- $70,000 for an individual;
- $140,000 for an individual as a person in control of a business or undertaking or as an officer; or
- $700,000 for a body corporate.
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