Morrison v Liddell Coal Preparation Pty Ltd [2011] NSWIRComm 46

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Morrison v Liddell Coal Preparation Pty Ltd [2011] NSWIRComm 46 Hearing dates: 22 March 2011 Decision date: 15 April 2011 Jurisdiction: Industrial Court of NSW Before: Staff J Decision: 1. The offence is proven and a verdict of guilty is entered. 2. The defendant is convicted of the offence, as charged. 3. The defendant is fined an amount of $90,000 with a moiety thereof to the prosecutor. 4. The defendant shall pay the prosecutor's costs of the proceedings in an amount as agreed, or if agreement cannot be reached, leave is granted to either party to approach the Court for final orders as to costs. In addition, the defendant shall pay the sum of $23,090 representing the costs arising from the investigation of the offence. Catchwords: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY - prosecution under s 8(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 - Coal Mining Industry - employee suffered an electric shock - objective seriousness - reasonably foreseeable risk to safety - existence of simple and straightforward remedial steps - number of layers of safety in place - comprehensive risk and safety management plan in place - general deterrence - specific deterrence - measures introduced to eliminate risk - subjective factors - good corporate citizenship - plea of guilty to amended application for order - maximum discount for utilitarian value of plea - PRINCIPLES - penalty - COSTS Legislation Cited: Coal Mine Health and Safety Act 2002 Coal Mine Health and Safety Regulation 2006 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 Cases Cited: Cameron v The Queen [2002] HCA 6; (2002) 209 CLR 339 Capral Aluminium Ltd v WorkCover Authority of New South Wales [2000] NSWIRComm 71; (2000) 49 NSWLR 610; (2000) 99 IR 29 Department of Mineral Resources of NSW (McKensey) v Kembla Coal and Coke Pty Ltd (1999) 92 IR 8 Inspector Olive v Transfield Pty Limited [2001] NSWIRComm 295 Lawrenson Diecasting Pty Ltd v WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Inspector Ch'ng) (1999) 90 IR 464 Maddaford v CSR Limited and Mulgoa Quarries Pty Ltd [2004] NSWIRComm 337 Morrison v Coal Operations Australia Ltd (No 2) [2005] NSWIRComm 96; (2005) 141 IR 465 Morrison v Powercoal Pty Ltd [2003] NSWIRComm 416; (2003) 130 IR 364 R v Gorman [2002] NSWCCA 516; (2002) 137 A Crim R 326 R v S Y & Anor [2003] NSWCCA 291 R v Thomson; R v Houlton [2000] NSWCCA 309; (2000) 49 NSWLR 383 Rodney Morrison v Wambo Coal Pty Ltd [2004] NSWIRComm 189 WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Inspector Ankucic) v McDonald's Australia Ltd (2000) 95 IR 383 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Rodney Dale Morrison (Prosecutor) Liddell Coal Preparation Pty Ltd (Defendant) Representation: Mr D Chin of counsel (Prosecutor) Mr BD Hodgkinson SC with Mr D Jordan of counsel (Defendant) Crown Solicitor's Office (Prosecutor) Sparke Helmore (Defendant) File Number(s): IRC 1713 of 2009