Category: law

Farmer who killed his three-year-old goes to jail

At the end of February 2025, a farmer in England was jailed for 12 months following a successful prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive. In 2022, the farmer, Neil Speakman, drove over his three-year-old son, Albie, in a telehandler that Speakman was not qualified to use and had restricted visibility. Speakman was jailed after he failed to ensure the health and safety of his son.

If this type of incident had happened in Australia, it is uncertain whether a farmer would receive a custodial sentence because the community may feel that the farmer and their family would have “been punished enough” by the loss of their child. Why can England do what Australia resists?

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All safety is political.  It always has been

My great uncle dug into coal mine tailings with his bare hands to try and rescue the school children and teachers buried during the Aberfan disaster.  His own grandchildren died.  Both of my grandfathers suffered from lives spent underground; they both died young, one from lung cancer and silicosis. 

For me, all safety is political.  It always has been.  It’s not party-political – but it can be.  It’s political in the sense that all decisions in every aspect of our lives are a function of power and authority. 

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Politics on display at safety awards night

WorkSafe Vcitoria’s annual awards night for 2024 was held last week. It was an unexceptional night, with around 400 in the audience, most of whom were award finalists and their colleagues. Although unexceptional, it was not dull, as the finalists’ stories were often compelling. However, the event needs a boost. Perhaps not to the flamboyance of earlier this century with over 1000 attendees and dancing into the night, as that would not be a good political look, but it needs something.

What was not notable was the politics of the evening.

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Psychosocial hazards discussions are everywhere, as they should be

New information about the need to prevent psychosocial hazards at work keeps coming.  Victoria will join the workplace mental health train a little later than planned.  It went from engine to caboose in four years. SafeWorkNSW has released guidance on Designing Work to Manage Psychosocial Risks and an enforceable undertaking by a New South Wales mine from a psychosocial incident.

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OHS breakfast seminar without WorkSafe Victoria

The latest annual occupational health and safety (OHS) breakfast seminar by the Australian Institute of Health and Safety tried a different format with mixed success. These seminars have run almost continuously at the offices of Herbert Smith Freehills for a couple of decades, and perhaps a refresh was required, but there was one noticeable absence – Victoria’s OHS regulator, WorkSafe.

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Another Executive leaves WorkSafe Victoria and new psychological regulations announced

For personal reasons, Joe Calafiore, Chief Executive Officer of WorkSafe Victoria, announced his departure today after less than eighteen months. Narelle Beer departed in mid-2024.

Calafiore said in a staff email that:

“This job is 100% or nothing, and at this stage I am unable to commit the full focus that the role requires.”

WorkSafe Victoria Chair Bob Cameron told staff:

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Still insufficient answers to the Delacombe trench deaths

Last week, the Victorian Coroner, Leveasque Peterson, released her findings into the deaths of Charlie Howkins and Jack Brownlee from a trench collapse on a residential construction site in Delacombe in March 2018. The employer, Pipecon, pleaded guilty to occupational health and safety (OHS) law breaches and was successfully prosecuted by WorkSafe Victoria. But the guilty plea meant there was only a cursory investigation of the OHS elements of the incident.

This month’s coronial findings have come without the opportunities offered by a formal inquest. So, where are the answers? What management decisions caused the trench to collapse and lead to the deaths of Jack and Charlie? The available answers seem insufficient. What lessons can be drawn from these legal processes to stop similar incidents occurring elsewhere?

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