Inspector Estreich v Dowding & Mills (Australia) Pty Limited [2012] NSWIRComm 77

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Inspector Estreich v Dowding & Mills (Australia) Pty Limited [2012] NSWIRComm 77 Hearing dates: 13 July 2012 Decision date: 19 July 2012 Jurisdiction: Industrial Court of NSW Before: Boland J, President Decision: (1) The defendant is convicted of an offence under s 8(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000. (2) The defendant is fined an amount of $80,000 with a moiety to the prosecutor. (3) The defendant shall pay the prosecutor's costs as agreed or assessed. Catchwords: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY - Prosecution under s 8(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 - Worker suffered injury when undertaking repairs to a stator motor - Task involved the performance of acid etching using phosphoric acid - Lack of training and supervision of worker - Worker suffered electric shock and burns to face from contact with phosphoric acid - Plea of guilty - Sentencing - Objective and subjective considerations - Penalty imposed - Costs Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 Cases Cited: Inspector Stephen Cooper v Rail Infrastructure Corporation [2008] NSWIRComm 92 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Inspector Pamela Estreich (Prosecutor) Dowding & Mills (Australia) Pty Limited (Defendant) Representation: Ms M McCarthy of counsel (Prosecutor) Mr I H Wallach of counsel (Defendant) WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Prosecutor) Henry Davis York Lawyers (Defendant) File Number(s): IRC 1303 of 2011