A prosecution under s 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth) that relies on a package of interlinked measures will fail if any individual measure within the package is not proved beyond reasonable doubt to be 'reasonably practicable'. Measures defined by reference to uncertain or undefined concepts (such as 'minimal crevassing') lack reasonable practicability unless the concept is given practical content through evidence. A standard of conduct derived from hindsight knowledge of the specific incident is insufficient to establish reasonable practicability without independent support from evidence, practice, or comparable standards. The assessment of reasonable practicability must have regard to the need to apply equivalent measures in other comparable circumstances, not just the specific site or operation in question.
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