Inspector Ringland v Lonewood Farm Pty Ltd [2013] NSWIRComm 1

Industrial Relations Commission New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Inspector Ringland v Lonewood Farm Pty Ltd [2013] NSWIRComm 1 Hearing dates: 20/07/2012 Decision date: 17 January 2013 Before: Backman J Decision: (1) The defendant is convicted of the offence. (2) The defendant is fined $65,000 with a moiety to the prosecutor. (3) The defendant is to pay the costs of the prosecutor as agreed or, in the absence of agreement, as assessed. Catchwords: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY - prosecution under s 8(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 - plea of guilty - employee is fatally injured after falling 4.2 metres through non-trafficable polycarbonate sheeting while on the roof of a kit shed under construction - risk to safety known and obvious - defendant fails to ensure any fall protection is made available to employee - other objective factors considered - general and specific deterrence considered - maximum penalty - subjective factors considered, including defendant's capacity to pay a modest fine - absence of prior convictions taken into account - victim impact statements - penalty and orders Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Inspector John Ringland (Prosecutor) Lonewood Farm Pty Ltd ACN 074 590 382 as Trustee for the Lonewood Trust ABN 43 886 804 046 (Defendant) Representation: Mr D O'Neill (Prosecutor) Mr P O'Connor (Defendant) Criminal Law Practice Legal Group WorkCover Authority of New South Wales (Prosecutor) APJ Law (Defendant) File Number(s): IRC 1423 of 2011