SafeWork NSW v Steel-Line Garage Doors Australia Pty Ltd [2026] NSWIC 7

[2026] NSWIC 7

NSW Industrial Court

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Catchwords

1. CRIMINAL LAW — work health and safety — offences — category 2 — where forklift drove over worker that was walking in front to stabilise the load — where worker suffered serious physical injuries — obvious risk of injury — significant objective seriousness — where worker young, vulnerable and inexperienced — wholly inadequate safety system in place at the time — where Defendant subsequently took comprehensive steps to put an appropriate system in place — Defendant’s strong subjective case

Quick Take

The Court imposed a $450,000 fine (approximately 24% of the maximum penalty) for a Category 2 WHS offence where a forklift ran over an 18-year-old untrained worker, finding significant objective seriousness due to the obvious and foreseeable risk, the wholly inadequate safety system, and the worker's youth and vulnerability. The Court gave full weight to the defendant's strong subjective case including its clean record, early guilty plea (25% discount), comprehensive post-incident remediation, and demonstrated remorse, and found specific deterrence played only a limited role. Notably, the Court criticised the prosecution's failure to adduce detailed medical evidence of the worker's injuries, holding that clinical notes or treating medical reports should be provided at a bare minimum where injuries form part of the prosecutor's case, and declined to treat the victim impact statement as proof of asserted psychological injuries absent independent evidence.