We recently had a workplace health & safety officer attend our offices to provide further training for our consultants about WH&S for our contracting candidates.
I’ll be honest; it scared the hell out of me!
It turns out I was ignorant to the huge fines that can be imposed on employers by authorities if someone injures themselves in the workplace. Even the smallest things can result in fines that would cripple most agencies should they lack previously implemented controls around WH&S. During the visit, we were told horror stories detailing incidents where people slipped off their chairs resulting in $500,000 dollar fines where liability would have been easily minimised if the employer had better WH&S polices in place. These fines are not covered by most insurance policies, and subsequently they must be paid by the company.
Could your agency financially survive a $500,000 fine?
