High Court's landmark decision against NSW OH&S laws

Dateline: 04.02.2010
Author: Source from The Australia

For cleaning industry employers that have long been campaigning against NSW OH&S laws, some good news. The draconian NSW workplace safety laws took a major hit yesterday when the High Court cleared a hobby farmer of responsibility for the death of his manager in a vehicle accident on his Picton (NSW) property. The hobby farmer, Graeme Kirk, had no experience in farming and left the running of his farm to manager Graham Palmer.

After Palmer was killed in 2001 while moving a heavy terrain vehicle, Kirk and his company was fined for failing to provide a safe workplace and fined $121,000. The lengthy eight year legal case saw costs accruing to Kirk mounting to some $2 million.

According to The Australian (4 February) news report, High Court Judge Dyson Heydon said, ‘it was “absurd” Mr Kirk was prosecuted for failing to ensure the safety of his manager when the latter was much more experienced and made an “inexplicably reckless” decision.

Norton Ross OHS head Michael Tooma stated, “This spells the end of what some people have called the reverse onus – guilty until proven innocent – approach to the legislation.”

Following an agreement by all federal and state ministers, a new national OH&S system will start in 2012. The new laws would impose a duty on employers to do what is ‘reasonably practicable’ to provide a safe workplace rather than NSW’s ‘strict liability’ system.

High Court's landmark decision against NSW OH&S laws