Greg SmithApr 12 minDisciplinary action for safety breaches: Stifling trust or legal risk management? I believe that in most cases there is a reasonable synergy between general legal principles underpinning health and safety legislation...
Greg SmithJul 9, 20203 minIn case you missed it ...Anyone with an interest in safety who is on LinkedIn could not help but be aware of the decision in R v Brisbane Auto Recycling [2020]...
Greg SmithNov 7, 20197 minWhy I do not support industrial manslaughterIn a recent comment on a LinkedIn post I asked for evidence of how Industrial Manslaughter wold contribute to safe workplaces. In...
Greg SmithSep 6, 20193 minIndustrial manslaughter in Western Australia: What is the issue we are trying to address?I have written previously on what I believe the limits are of industrial manslaughter specifically, and prosecutions generally. But in...
Greg SmithAug 9, 20192 minWhy don't we have "production" moments?One of the ways organisations like to emphasise safety is with corporate branding: safety moments, safety conversations, safety...
Greg SmithAug 9, 20192 minThe prosecution problem revisited - again!Further to my recent blog on the limits of prosecutions (The prosecution problem revisited), the prosecution summary of the first case...
Greg SmithAug 3, 20195 minThe prosecution problem revisitedOn 1 August 2019 an article was published about a health and safety prosecution in Western Australia, and it was another rallying cry...
Greg SmithJun 24, 20191 minDue diligence program in Perth First, I have to apologise for my lack of publishing activity recently. I do have a bundle of articles I need to complete, but I have...
Greg SmithFeb 28, 20196 minThe Racek Decision The Racek Decision (Daniel Racek v DP World Sydney - [2019] FWC 772), published on 8 February 2019, is a very important decision which...
Greg SmithFeb 11, 20193 minIs there a duty to warn workers about obvious hazards? In my latest book, Paper Safe: The triumph of bureaucracy in safety management, I looked at the obligations of an employer to warn...
Greg SmithJan 25, 20193 minFirst custodial sentence for health and safety breaches. Are there any lessons? Recently, Maria Jackson became the first person to receive a custodial sentence for a breach of occupational health and safety...
Greg SmithJan 21, 20195 minI am a safety lawyer, safety manager and a board member. How do I think about due diligence?I have been criticised for many things based on my observations about health and safety management over the years. Being a lawyer, it is...
Greg SmithJan 20, 20193 minPracticable is not black-and-white, but it is not subjective eitherA very common conversation I have with organisations is, what is “practicable” and how do organisations meet the legal obligation to...
Greg SmithJan 16, 20192 minDue diligence workshopDr Rob Long and I will be running our Due Diligence workshop in Sydney on 20 and 21 February. You can register HERE. This workshop makes...
Greg SmithJan 8, 20191 minPaper Safe: The WebinarLast year, Craig Thornton from Mango was kind enough to host a webinar inviting me to share some ideas from my new book, Paper Safe: The...
Greg SmithJan 8, 20191 minProcess v PurposeBelow is a link to a webinar that was hosted by Craig Thornton from Mango last year. The webinar looks at the broad issue of process in...
Greg SmithDec 30, 20181 minNew Western Australian WorkSafe Commissioner AppointedOn 18 December 2018, the WA State Government announced Darren Kavanagh as the new WorkSafe Commissioner. According to the media release:...
Greg SmithDec 12, 20183 minSafety Case(s): Opcon Plumbing Pty LtdSafeWork NSW v Opcon Plumbing Pty Ltd; SafeWork NSW v Annous Keywords: Due Diligence; Company Officers I have written before about the...
Greg SmithNov 18, 20184 minOf Sausages and OnionsThere has been a recent outcry across the health and safety community, and others I suspect, about the recent decision of a chain of...
Greg SmithNov 1, 20185 minReal executive liability is dead, and we want to cremate it Let me put a stake in the ground before I set about dissecting the corpse of executive liability for safety and health. I do not believe...