Inspector Estreich v Hadfield [2012] NSWIRComm 88

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Inspector Estreich v Hadfield [2012] NSWIRComm 88 Hearing dates: 19 July 2012 Decision date: 17 August 2012 Jurisdiction: Industrial Court of NSW Before: Walton J, Vice-President Decision: 1. The defendant is convicted of the offence as charged. 2. The defendant is fined the sum of $30,000 with a moiety to the prosecutor. 3. Costs are reserved. Catchwords: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY - prosecution under s 8(1) by virtue of s 26(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 - defendant a director of a corporation - corporation now deregistered - defendant unrepresented - obvious risk of entangled posed by presence of unguarded machinery at metal spinning facility - employees required to reach into the machine whilst in operation to lubricate blank metal discs - defect in machine's control system allowed machine to restart spontaneously when start button became jammed with lubricant residue whilst operators were reaching inside - young and inexperienced worker exposed to risk - left unsupervised - worker became entangled in the machine - serious injury suffered - worker later died in hospital - plea of guilty - sentencing - objective factors - maximum penalty - risk was highly foreseeable - high risk of catastrophic injury - general and specific deterrence - consideration of worst category of cases - subjective factors - remorse and contrition - cooperation with prosecutor - discount for plea - first offence - consideration of s 6 of the Fines Act 1996 and defendant's capacity to pay - limited financial evidence before the Court - no significant reduction in penalty - penalty imposed - moiety - costs reserved Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Fines Act 1996 Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 Cases Cited: Alcatel Australia Limited v WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Inspector Clyant) (1996) 70 IR 99 Butler v Regina [2012] NSWCCA 54 Camilleri's Stock Feeds Pty Ltd v Environment Protection Authority (1993) 32 NSWLR 683 Capral Aluminium Limited v WorkCover Authority of New South Wales [2000] NSWIRComm 71; (2000) 49 NSWLR 610 Department of Mineral Resources of NSW (McKensey) v Kembla Coal & Coke Pty Ltd (1999) 92 IR 8 Holohan v R [2012] NSWCCA 105 Ibbs v The Queen (1987) 163 CLR 447 Inspector Dall v Ullrich [2012] NSWIRComm 87 Inspector Fraser v Karabelas (No 2) [2011] NSWIRComm 153 Inspector Gregory Maddaford v Graham Gerard Coleman & Anor [2004] NSWIRComm 317; (2004) 138 IR 21 Inspector Hannah v Wonar Pty Ltd (unreported, Fisher CJ, CT90/1214, 30 June 1992 Inspector Jelley v Albright & Wilson (Australia) Limited [2007] NSWIRComm 148; (2007) 164 IR 456 Inspector Jelley v Lanza Management Pty Ltd and Guiliano Lanza [2008] NSWIRComm 125 Inspector Jose Barbosa v Newstart 150 Pty Ltd t/as Style Wise Interiors [2002] NSWIRComm 64; (2002) 113 IR 78 Inspector Lai v Rexma Pty Ltd and Another [2008] NSWIRComm 78; (2008) 172 IR 210 Inspector Richard Mulder v GRD Minproc Ltd [2008] NSWIRComm 82 Inspector Stephen Campbell v James Gordon Hitchcock [2005] NSWIRComm 34 Inspector Williams v H P Woods (Holding) Pty Ltd [2011] NSWIRComm 114 Lawrenson Diecasting v WorkCover Authority (Inspector Ch'ng) (1999) 90 IR 464 MH v REGINA [2011] NSWCCA 230 McColl v John Watson Building Services Pty Ltd and Dowdon Contracting Pty Ltd [2004] NSWIRComm 353 Morrison v Powercoal Pty Ltd & Anor. (No. 3) [2005] NSWIRComm 61; (2005) 147 IR 117 Page v Walco Hoist Rentals Pty Ltd (No 2) [2000] NSWIRComm 39 R v Helen Ryan; R v Coralie Coulter [2011] NSWSC 1249 R v Reader (Brian Henry) (1988) 10 Cr App R(S) 210 R v Rushby (1997) 1 NSWLR 594 R v Vusumuzi Twala (unreported, Court of Crimnal Appeal, 4 November 1994) Rahme v R (1989) 43 A Crim R 81 Retsos v Regina [2006] NSWCCA 85 Trevor Vernon Dodd (1991) 57 A Crim R 349 Veen v The Queen [No 2] (1988) 164 CLR 46 WorkCover Authority (NSW) (Inspector Jones) v Challita [2006] NSWIRComm 207 WorkCover Authority (NSW) Inspector Howard v Baulderstone Hornibrook Pty Ltd [2009] NSWIRComm 92; (2009) 186 IR 125 Workcover Authority of New South Wales (Inspector Ankucic) v Crown in the Right of the State of New South Wales (Department of Education and Training) [2001] NSWIRComm 313 WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Inspector Ankucic) v McDonalds Australia Limited [2000] NSWIRComm 277; (2000) 95 IR 383 WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Inspector Belley) v Hughston & Sons Pty Limited [2002] NSWIRComm 340 WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Inspector Mayell) v D J Gleeson Pty Ltd [2006] NSWIRComm 363 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Inspector Phillip Estreich (Prosecutor) Kevin Hadfield (Defendant) Representation: M P Cahill of counsel (Prosecutor) WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Prosecutor) Kevin Hadfield in person (Defendant) File Number(s): IRC 1934 of 2011