Without making any comment on the wisdom or efficacy of increasing penalties for breaches of health and safety legislation, it is nevertheless noteworthy that amendments to the Western Australian Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 were proclaimed on 2 October 2018, and take effect today, 3 October 2018.
The result of the amendments is a significant increase in penalties for breaches of safety and health legislation in Western Australia. The most common penalties for employers, Level 2 and Level 3 have increased from $200,000 to $1.5 million and $400,000 to $2 million respectively. Level 4 penalties, breaches of the legislation in circumstances of gross negligence, have been increased from $500,000 to $2.7 million.
Breaches of health and safety legislation by an employee that caused the death of, or serious harm to, another person have increased from $20,000 to $80,000 for a first offence, and from $25,000 to $100,000 for a subsequent offence.
You can access a copy of the proclamation HERE.
You can access a copy of the amending legislation, with details of all the penalty increases HERE.