The head contractor, Sydney-based firm Valmont (WA) Pty Ltd, was charged under state work health and safety law with failing to ensure that persons who were not their employees were not exposed to hazards. In July, the WA Magistrates Court imposed a fine of just $38,000 on Valmont after it entered a guilty plea. Worksafe WA Commissioner, Darren Kavanagh, stated that the company failed in its duty to ensure that its subcontractor observed its obligations to ensure work was performed safely. Prosecutions are currently pending against the subcontractor (Wesley’s direct employer), and a director and a manager of that company. One party has pleaded not guilty to those charges; the other parties have not yet entered pleas. Loading The maximum penalty for the offence that Valmont pleaded guilty to was (at the time) $200,000. Yet the penalty imposed is less than a fifth of that, despite these facts detailed in Worksafe WA’s prosecution summary: there were several open voids in the structure of the atrium steel framework;

no adequate fall protection system was in place;

no induction presentation was carried out highlighting the high-risk atrium area or the hazard risks register;

no safe method for performing duties, like standing on top of steel beams to install glass in the atrium, was included in the Safe Work Method Statements applicable to the work;

contrary to Valmont policy, no regular safety inspections of the high-risk work were carried out.

So is it right that a guilty plea for failing to provide a safe work environment which resulted in the teenager's death did not justify the imposition of the maximum penalty for the part that Valmont played in the death? It’s not. It’s time we had laws which reflect the seriousness of workplace deaths and their devastating impact on families. Industrial manslaughter legislation is needed across Australia, imposing criminal liability upon a corporation and its senior officers whose negligence causes the death of a worker. It’s unclear whether Wesley’s case would have met this legal standard, in the absence of industrial manslaughter legislation at present. Wesley Ballantine, killed at a CBD work site in 2017, was just 17 years old. Credit:Facebook Industrial manslaughter laws are in place in the ACT and Queensland and are currently being developed by the Andrews Government in Victoria. Last month, WA Premier Mark McGowan announced that legislation will be introduced into state Parliament this year to impose penalties of up to 20 years’ imprisonment and up to $10 million fines for breaches of proposed new industrial manslaughter offences.

Predictably, this has been opposed by industry groups. For example, WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Chris Rodwell stated that "there are already adequate laws in place which deal with the individuals who negligently or purposefully contribute to a person's death, and there is a greater risk that industrial manslaughter laws will have a negative impact on safety outcomes by fostering a culture of blame". Well right now, we have a culture of no responsibility. The imposition of serious criminal consequences, including possible jail time for individuals, is the only way to ensure that workplace safety breaches are not simply treated as the price of doing business. Again, we do not know if Wesley's case would have resulted in any charges of this nature, because the laws currently do not exist. The CCIWA’s position is typical of the approach of corporate Australia when regulation is proposed to address poor business practices. We saw it in the resistance of the major banks to having the royal commission into that sector: ‘No problem, nothing to see here'. Corporate behaviour will not change without individual personal liability. Earlier this year, the Boland review of model work health and safety laws applying across most of the country recommended the introduction of industrial manslaughter laws nationally.