Court orders company directors to report to the OHS regulator

Board directors of one of Australia's biggest construction firms, Leighton Contractors, have been ordered by the County Court to meet with WorkSafe Victoria three times a year.  The requirement follows Leighton's guilty pleas to charges of breaching Victoria's OHS Act that lead to a fatal bridge collapse near Geelong.

In addition to the company being convicted and fined $325,000, the company also was ordered to pay a further $90,000 to the children of the deceased worker, $40,000 into a training program for workers involved in bridge building, and $70,000 to charity.  As part of the series of meetings with the regulator, which would also include the company's Victorian health and safety representatives, Leighton Contractors will have to report on the meetings in its annual report.

Asked on Channel 9's Business Sunday program whether this judgement represented a precedent that directors of other organisations should heed, OSHA director Dr David McIvor said the case "broadened out the whole concept of corporate governance, due diligence and what a person in authority in an organisation needs to do to make sure that the organisation is functioning effectively."

WorkSafe's investigations revealed what Judge Gebhardt described as "defective construction, defective engineering and a significant falling-short of reasonable and desirable standards of workplace safety."  He said that leading up to the collapse, there was "a sequence of events which represents a gross shoddiness and an indifference to a standard of engineering and construction precision which is required in this kind of situation."

The fine was the second biggest ever handed down in Victoria for a workplace fatality and was the first time such a judgement had reached into the Board itself.

Judge Gebhardt said there were too many "contractual voices" on the project.  "Where there are large organisations…the directors and senior management will do well to remind themselves of the objects of the (Occupational Health and Safety) Act on a regular basis.  Corporate distance should not be allowed to lead to disengagement. People's lives are at stake. The Act is a shield."

In the Channel 9 interview, David McIvor noted that "from the chairperson down, through the rest of the board to the senior operating managers of an organisation - all need to understand they are now being held accountable for the performance of their organisation, not just in areas of dollars and compliance with environmental legislation and so on, but (also) the protection of the health and safety of the people who are doing the work for them".

To arrange a loan of the full video of Channel 9's "Business Sunday" article, Contact Us.

Dr McIvor expands on these views in a special 2-hour presentation designed for Directors, Board Members and other senior managers.  Go to Training for further details, or contact David on (Australia) 0500 88 99 78.