The acting WorkSafe commissioner has confirmed a local government CEO could be personally charged with industrial manslaughter if volunteer firefighters are killed after concerns were raised following the death of a firefighter on the state's south coast.
A group of local governments is worried a shire CEO could be held personally responsible for the death of a firefighter under workplace health and safety laws.
Ever since the laws were updated in 2020 to include the crime of industrial manslaughter, there have been fears about how they would impact volunteer firefighter brigades. "Even though the third-party actions taken in the incident were out of his control," GVROC's recent agenda states. Acting WorkSafe commissioner Sally North said any prosecution would need to meet a number of criteria.
Mr Fitchat said he signed bushfire control over to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services at the earliest opportunity, partly due to liability concerns.Lawyer Greg Smith said local government chief executives likely could have been prosecuted under former occupational health and safety laws — but the consequences were now much greater.
"Once you start to lay out all of the things that have to be considered in making that test it's really difficult for people to form a view about what applies to them," he said.Mr Smith said increased public expectations around accountability could see the heads of more organisations pursued.
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