WorkSafe Victoria | A garlic bread wholesaler has been convicted and fined a record $3.4 million for workplace manslaughter after a worker fell to his death at a bakery in Reservoir.
Risham Nominees Pty Ltd, trading as Centenary Bakehouse, was sentenced in the Victorian Supreme Court after earlier pleading guilty to a single charge of engaging in negligent conduct that constituted a breach of a duty owed to another person and caused their death.
The court heard the company was undertaking ceiling upgrades at the bakery and engaged three workers to remove large insulation panels suspended in the roof space.
In August 2021, a 53-year-old worker fell approximately four metres to the ground below, sustaining fatal head injuries.
A WorkSafe investigation found that before commencing works, the company did not refer to any industry standard or guidance material, nor had any control measures in place to reduce or eliminate the risk of a fall from height. While harnesses were available at the workplace, workers were not required to use them.
It was reasonably practicable for Risham Nominees to have reduced the risk of serious injury or death by using an independent scaffold system such as a birdcage scaffold.
The court heard the company’s failure to do so 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 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.
