Safety breaches cost Victorian employers $13.3m in 2024

Victorian employers copped serious legal and financial repercussions last year for putting workers at risk.

In 2024, WorkSafe – Victoria’s workplace regulator – completed 119 health and safety cases, with the courts imposing a total of $13,318,433 in fines, costs, and enforceable undertakings for breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Dangerous Goods Act in 2024.

Included in these total fines was the first conviction under Victoria’s workplace manslaughter laws, as employers LH Holding Management was convicted and fined $1.3 million in relation to the death of a worker, who was sadly fatally crushed at a Somerton factory.

Pertaining to this incident, penalties, and costs of more than $500,000 were handed out to four other defendants and a further 20 received penalties of $100,000 or more.

Overall, the largest proportion of health and safety prosecutions were against employers in:

• Construction (49)
• Manufacturing (26)
• Transport, postal and warehousing (10)

In terms of the incidents themselves, the risk of a fall from height alone resulted in 36 employers copping fines of more than $1.66 million in 2024.

Alongside this, there were 17 prosecutions for unsafe machinery, 14 relating to the risk of being crushed by or between objects, and 10 involving powered mobile plants, such as forklifts.

“Employers who turn a blind eye to health and safety risks in their workplace play a deadly game that can lead to horrific injuries or loss of life, as well as costly legal consequences,” said WorkSafe executive director, health and safety, Sam Jenkin.

“The safest workplaces are those where employers proactively engage with workers and health and safety representatives, where available, to identify and address health and safety risks by making safety a priority for everyone.”

Tragically, WorkSafe noted, 12 prosecutions and $4.76 million in fines and costs imposed last year related to workplace fatalities. Five employers were prosecuted for matters related to occupational violence, bullying or harassment.

“Duty holders need to have systems and processes in place to identify, assess and respond to work-related hazards to their physical or mental health – including the risk of violence and hazards such as bullying or harassment,” said Jenkin.