SafeWork NSW v CCP Remedial Pty Ltd

In SafeWork NSW v CCP Remedial Pty Ltd, the defendant company faced charges relating to violations of work health and safety regulations. The dispute centred on the company's failure to implement adequate safety measures, leading to a worker falling from a height into an unprotected void. The matter was heard in the Industrial Court of New South Wales.

The court was tasked with determining several legal issues, including whether the company had a duty to prevent the risk of death or serious injury, whether the risk was reasonably practicable to mitigate, the likelihood of the risk materialising, and what the company ought to have reasonably known about the risks involved. The central issue was whether the company adequately implemented its work health and safety management system plan and provided sufficient fall protection for its workers.

The court found that the risk of a worker falling into an unprotected void was known to the company. Despite this knowledge, the company failed to implement adequate fall protection measures. The court concluded that the company's failure to enforce its work health and safety management system plan constituted a breach of the relevant statutory obligations. The risk of falling into the void was deemed reasonably practicable to mitigate, and the company should have been aware of the need to do so. The court convicted the company and imposed a fine of $125,000, reduced by 25% to $93,750 due to the plea of guilty. Half of the fine was to be paid to the prosecutor, and the company was ordered to pay the prosecution's costs of $32,000.