02:45 pm, Tuesday 1 May, 2012
The family of a man killed at work says that court’s punishment on work safety breaches are too light after the victim’s former employer succeeded in halving its penalty.
According to a report from The West Australian, the crane company was initially fined $180,000 for breaching workplace safety laws. This included a $90,000 fine for the company and a $45,000 fine from each director. A Supreme Court appeal earlier this year resulted to a reduced fine of $90,000 – $70,000 for the company and $10,000 for the directors.
The victim’s parents believe that the penalties were too light.
“People think about the financial consequences of doing something wrong. If we don’t have proper penalties (for breaching the law), what kind of message does it send to employers.”
New statistics from UnionsWA revealed that a WA worker is injured at work every half an hour, or more than 30,000 a year. It also showed that a person is killed at work every 28 days.
WorkSafe is appealing against the court’s decision.
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