Henry v Henry's Transport Solutions Pty Ltd - [2025] NSWPIC 120

CERTIFICATE OF DETERMINATION OF MEMBER
CITATION:	Henry v Henry's Transport Solutions Pty Ltd [2025] NSWPIC 120
APPLICANT:	Carolyn Henry
RESPONDENT:	Henry's Transport Solutions Pty Limited
PRINCIPAL MEMBER:	Josephine Bamber
DATE OF DECISION:	1 April 2025
CATCHWORDS:	WORKERS COMPENSATION - Workers Compensation Act 1987; claim in relation to death of worker; finding that the deceased worker sustained injury pursuant to section 4(a) when he died of a heart attack while driving his truck; Held – that no compensation is payable because the employment was not a substantial contribution factor to his injury (section 9A); in the alternative, pursuant to section 4(b)(ii) the employment was not the main contributing factor to the aggravation, exacerbation, deterioration or acceleration of the coronary artery disease; in the further alternative, pursuant to section 9B no compensation is payable for the heart attack injury as the nature of the employment concerned did not give rise to a significantly greater risk of the worker suffering the injury than had the worker not been employed in employment of that nature; De Silva v Secretary, Department of Finance, Services and Innovation discussed and distinguished on the facts; award for the respondent.
DETERMINATIONS MADE:	The Commission determines: 1. Pursuant to s 4(a) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 Robert Henry sustained injury in the course of his employment on 9 August 2022 when he died of a heart attack. 2. Pursuant to s 9A of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 no compensation is payable because the employment was not a substantial contributing factor to his injury. 3. In the alternative, pursuant to s 4(b)(ii) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 the employment was not the main contributing factor to the aggravation, exacerbation, deterioration or acceleration of the coronary artery disease. 4. In the further alternative, pursuant to s 9B of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 no compensation is payable for the heart attack injury as the nature of the employment concerned did not give rise to a significantly greater risk of the worker suffering the injury than had the worker not been employed in employment of that nature. 5. Award for the respondent. A brief statement is attached setting out the Commission’s reasons for the determination.

STATEMENT OF REASONS

BACKGROUND

Robert Henry was employed by the respondent as a long haul truck driver. He died of a heart attack on 9 August 2022. His widow, Carolyn Henry, the applicant, is the only dependent making a claim for compensation pursuant to s 25(1)(a) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (the 1987 Act). The amount of the lump sum is $862,350. The adult children of the deceased and Carolyn Henry have provided statutory declarations stating they were not dependent on the deceased for support at the time of his death and they do not make a claim for compensation.
The case is brought on two bases:
(a) pursuant to s 4(a) of the 1987 Act, and
(b) pursuant to s 4(b)(ii) of the 1987 Act for aggravation of disease.
The respondent denies…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading Henry v Henry's Transport Solutions Pty Ltd

Details

AGLC: Henry v Henry's Transport Solutions Pty Ltd [2025] NSWPIC 120
Case: [2025] NSWPIC 120
Decision Date: 1 April 2025

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The parties involved in the case were Henry, the claimant, and Henry's Transport Solutions Pty Ltd, the respondent. The dispute centred around a claim for compensation under the Workers Compensation Act 1987 in relation to the death of a worker who died of a heart attack while driving his truck. The court was tasked with determining whether the deceased's employment constituted a substantial contribution to the injury that led to his death, as per section 4(a) of the Act.

The central legal issue was whether the employment was a substantial contributing factor to the deceased's heart attack under section 4(a) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987. Additionally, the court had to consider if the employment was the main contributing factor to the aggravation, exacerbation, deterioration, or acceleration of the deceased's coronary artery disease under section 4(b)(ii). The court also needed to assess if the nature of the employment gave rise to a significantly greater risk of the deceased suffering the injury than if he had not been employed in that occupation under section 9B.

The court found that the deceased's employment was not a substantial contribution factor to his injury, as the heart attack was not directly caused by the work. Furthermore, the employment was not identified as the main contributing factor to the aggravation or exacerbation of the coronary artery disease. The nature of the employment did not present a significantly greater risk of the heart attack than if the deceased had not been employed in that occupation. The court distinguished the present case from De Silva v Secretary, Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, noting the different facts and circumstances. Consequently, the court ruled that no compensation was payable to the claimant, and awarded costs to the respondent.

Orders