Orr v Hunter Quarries Pty Limited [2019] NSWDC 634

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Orr v Hunter Quarries Pty Limited [2019] NSWDC 634 Hearing dates: 16-19, 24, 27 April 2018; 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-23 May 2018; 8 June 2018; 26 July 2018; 27 August 2018; 7, 11 September 2018; 9, 19, 26 October 2018; 12, 19, 23 November 2018; 1, 6 February 2019; 4 March 2019; 2-5 April 2019; 23, 29 May 2019; 11-12 June 2019 Date of orders: 08 November 2019 Decision date: 08 November 2019 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Russell SC DCJ Decision: (1) The prosecution has not proved all of the elements of the offence beyond reasonable doubt. (2) Final orders will not be entered until the prosecution has had an opportunity to consider an application pursuant to s 5AE of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW). (3) The matter will be listed on a date for entry of final orders or argument on the proposed questions of law to be stated to the Court of Criminal Appeal. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – prosecution – work health and safety – duty of person undertaking business – risk of death or serious injury

PROCEDURAL – elements of offence – whether defendant owed a health and safety duty – whether there was a failure to comply with that duty – whether that failure exposed workers to the risk of death or serious injury

PROCEDURAL – reasonable practicability – likelihood of the risk – knowledge of the risk – what the defendant ought reasonably to have known

PROCEDURAL – foreseeability – whether there was a causal relationship between the act or omission and the risk - measures to guard against a risk to safety that are reasonably practicable – guard against inadvertence to fullest extent practicable – not always possible to foresee inadvertence by a disobedient worker