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.