Industrial manslaughter
30A Industrial manslaughter
A person (being a person conducting a business or undertaking or an officer of a person conducting a business or undertaking) commits an industrial manslaughter offence if—
the person has a health and safety duty; and
the person engages in conduct that breaches that duty; and
the conduct causes the death of an individual to whom that duty is owed;
and
the person—
engages in the conduct with gross negligence; or
is reckless as to the risk to an individual of death or serious injury or illness.
Maximum penalty:
in the case of an offence committed by an individual as a person conducting a business or undertaking or as an officer of a person conducting a business or undertaking—20 years imprisonment;
in the case of an offence committed by a body corporate—$18 000 000.
For the purposes of this section, conduct causes the death of an individual if it substantially contributes to the death.
If at the trial of a person for an offence against this section the trier of fact is not satisfied that the accused is guilty of the offence charged but is satisfied that the accused is guilty of a
Category 1 offence, a Category 2 offence or a Category 3 offence, the trier of fact may bring a verdict that the accused is guilty of that offence if the proceedings for the offence charged commenced within the applicable limitation period for the lesser offence.
To avoid doubt, an offence against this section is a major indictable offence.
This Act’s bill:Second reading speech
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