For Category 2 work health and safety offences where the foreseeability of the risk of death or serious injury is plain, the foreseeability of consequences is obvious, and the measures to eliminate the risk are simple to implement, the objective seriousness of the offence is at the high end, not the mid-range. A penalty of $300,000 against a maximum of $1,500,000 for a body corporate was manifestly inadequate in such circumstances. The case also confirms that prosecutorial delay in bringing a Crown appeal, while a relevant factor, will not necessarily result in the exercise of the residual discretion in the respondent's favour where the penalty is manifestly inadequate for a serious offence in a high-risk industry.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.