The Court convicted a small residential construction company for failing to comply with its WHS duty under s 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) after a subcontractor's employee fell approximately 3.8 metres from an altered scaffold, finding mid-range culpability based on the foreseeability of the risk, the seriousness of potential consequences, and the ease of implementing preventive measures. The Court assessed an appropriate fine of $240,000 less 25% for the early guilty plea, but further reduced the fine to $100,000 on the basis of proven limited capacity to pay, accepting unchallenged expert evidence of the company's financial position. The Court also departed from the usual costs order by ordering each party to bear its own costs, holding that the prosecutor's extensive amendments to the summons constituted an indulgence for which the defendant should not be made to pay.
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