Doing business in NSW

You'd think that if you acted on government instructions and something went wrong that you wouldn't be in trouble with authorities.  For example if the speed limit is 60 and you had an accident you wouldn't be prosecuted for speeding at least.

But surprisingly NSW work safety laws don't operate this way.  It makes doing business in NSW pretty risky.

This was demonstrated following the Gretley underground mine tragedy in the Hunter in 1996.  Four men died after drilling broke through into a water-filled disused mine and flooded the new mine.  The company was required by law to use NSW government supplied maps of the old mine and should have been well clear of the danger.  But the maps were wrong.

In the inquiry that followed, the mines department admitted it was at fault.  The 100 year old maps had being misinterpreted by the department and a vital map was missing.  It took months of archival research by the department after repeated instructions from the inquiry to find the missing map.

However the managers at the mine were prosecuted in 2000 and convicted under NSW work safety laws.  They were supposed to have discovered that the maps were wrong and one was missing.  In a classic double standard the government refused to prosecute its own department and has never said why.

The laws that made the one sided convictions possible apply to everyone running businesses in NSW.  Unlike the rest of Australia, in NSW managers are automatically presumed guilty the instant a work accident happens.  You have to prove you're innocent.

But the Gretley case shows proving innocence in NSW is near impossible.  This is why NSW has more convictions under work laws than the rest of Australia.  The system is rigged to find guilt.

Welcome to doing business in NSW.

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