Unsafe WA business owners now risk five years' imprisonment

Penalties for workplace safety offences will be increased to bring Western Australia in line with other states around the country.

Businesses that commit safety offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1984 (OHS Act) will receive more substantial penalties to better reflect the importance of a safe workplace.

Harsher penalties for offenders include increasing the maximum term of imprisonment from two to five years.

“Penalties for workplace safety offences haven’t changed for 13 years. The substantial increases reflect the seriousness of ensuring the safety of Western Australian workers,” said WA Premier Mark McGowan.

The new penalties will be consistent with the national Work Health and Safety Act (Model Act), with a further increase for inflation (1.14%) from 2010.

First-offence fines for body corporate offenders will also drastically increase — Level 4 first-time offences will increase from $500,000 to more than $2.7 million.

Level 1 penalties will increase from $50,000 to $456,000.

With the exception of WA and Victoria, other Australian jurisdictions have adopted the Model Act and, as a result, penalty levels in WA’s OHS Act are significantly less than those applying in many other jurisdictions.

“The changes to penalty levels will take place ahead of the introduction of the government’s Work Health and Safety Bill, expected to be introduced into state parliament by mid-2019,” said Bill Johnston, Minister for Commerce and Industrial Relations.