Penalties for breaches of Western Australia’s workplace health and safety laws increased from 3 October 2018.
The new penalties are consistent with the national model Work Health and Safety Act (Model Act), with a further 14 per cent increase for inflation since 2010.
Examples for a first offence by a body corporate include:
- Level 1 penalties increase from $50,000 to $450,000.
- Level 4 penalties increase from $500,000 to $2.7 million.
Terms of imprisonment for individual offenders have also increased from two to five years for level 4 offences.
The new penalties have been incorporated into the respective Acts will apply in workplaces covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 and the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994.
Source: WorkSafe WA, 08 October 2018
