A record $3,400,000 fine has been imposed by the Victorian Supreme Court on Risham Nominees Pty Ltd, trading as Centenary Bakehouse, following the death of a worker.
The company was undertaking ceiling upgrades at their Reservoir bakery in August 2021 and had engaged three workers to remove large insulation panels suspended in the roof space approximately five metres above the ground. Risham Nominees explained to the workers that no qualifications were necessary to perform the task and did not provide the workers with any specific instructions about working at heights. The employees were simply told to do the job safely, to work in the middle of the cooler room, to be careful of gaps, not to work too close to the edge, and not to fall down the side. No safety equipment was provided to enable them to conduct the work safely.
Whilst performing the upgrade work a 53-year-old worker fell approximately four metres to the ground, sustaining fatal head injuries.
In May 2023 WorkSafe charged the company with two counts of workplace manslaughter under s.39G(1) of the OHS Act for allegedly engaging in conduct that was negligent and a breach of an applicable duty owed to a person that caused the death of that person. The company also faced two charges under s.21(1) of the OHS Act for failing to, so far as was reasonably practicable, provide and maintain a safe workplace, and an additional two charges under s.26(1) for failing to ensure that a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to health.
Three years after being charged, the Court has heard that it was reasonably practicable for Risham Nominees to have reduced the risk of serious injury or death to workers by using an independent scaffold system such as a birdcage scaffold.
WorkSafe Victoria’s investigation found that prior to commencing the work, Risham Nominees did not refer to any industry standard or guidance material and had no control measures in place to eliminate or reduce the risk of a fall from height. Although there were harnesses available at the workplace, Risham management did not require the workers performing the work to use them.
The Court heard the company's failure to control the risk of a fall from heights was negligent because it fell well short of the standard of care that would have been taken by a reasonable person in the circumstances.
This is WorkSafe's second finalised prosecution under Victoria's workplace manslaughter provisions since they were introduced in 2020. The fine is the largest ever for a single offence under Victoria's workplace safety laws and is WorkSafe's second finalised prosecution under the State's workplace manslaughter provisions, which commenced in July 2020 (see OHS Reps article).
In the first finalised Victorian workplace manslaughter case, LH Holding Management Pty Ltd was fined $1.3 million over the October 2021 death of a pedestrian worker in a forklift incident (see SafetyNet #703), but the penalty was increased to $3 million after the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed (see SafetyNet #757).
Risham Nominee's $3.4 million fine is the largest yet in Victoria for a workplace safety offence, and the third largest across all Australian jurisdictions. It falls just short of the $3.6 million penalty issued in relation to Queensland's Dreamworld theme park disaster that killed four patrons, and well short of the $7 million fine issued in a recent mining-related industrial manslaughter case, also in Queensland.
The maximum applicable penalty value for a breach of s.39G of the Victorian OHS Act at the time of the incident was approximately $18 million or 25 years imprisonment.
In February 2025 the Sentencing Advisory Council released a report to the Victorian Government making 12 recommendations for reform regarding the sentencing of OHS offences in Victoria. This included significantly increasing maximum penalties for breaching OHS duties in line with community expectations. The Victorian Government is yet to provide a response to this report.
Read more: Bakery fined record $3.4 million for workplace manslaughter | WorkSafe Victoria