NT WorkSafe
Queensland based labour hire company Tropickist Pty Ltd and company director David OBrien were both convicted and fined a total of $13,000 in the Darwin Local Court on 3 July 2019, after pleading guilty to breaching Section 155 (5) of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011.
Mr OBrien and Tropickist failed to cooperate with NT WorkSafe, and without a reasonable excuse, ignored requests to provide documents during an investigation into the 2016 death of Fijian national, Josia Benaca Turagatani.
Mr Turagatani, who was hired to pick fruit in the Douglas Daly region by Tropickist, died in June 2016 in a motor vehicle accident involving a vehicle provided by Tropickist to its workers.
Acting Executive Director of NT WorkSafe, Mr Chris Wicks said the conviction was a timely reminder that work health and safety laws applied to a wide variety of situations and to all workplaces, and it was the role of the regulator through an investigation, to determine if an incident was work-related or not.
It was concerning to hear that during sentencing the relevance of NT WorkSafes investigation into the matter was queried, Mr Wicks said.
Just because an incident involves a motor vehicle, doesnt mean it is only a police matter under the motor vehicle and traffic legislation.
In certain circumstances, work health and safety laws can apply and it is the role of WorkSafe Inspectors to investigate whether a person conducting a business or undertaking has breached safety standards owed by them to workers and other persons, Mr Wicks said.
