Killers on Notice

Bosses responsible for the deaths of employees could be charged with corporate manslaughter and made to face bereaved family members under proposed changes to NSW law.

An Upper House inquiry into workplace death and injury has recommended to the Carr Government an "urgent" introduction of a new offence under the Crimes Act, corporate manslaughter.

The report also recommended that companies to have their safety performances rated and published and courts to consider "victim impact statements" from bereaved family members and to have the ability to direct negligent employers into face-to-face meetings .

Families of killed workers and union representatives have welcomed the inquiries findings.

Sue Baxter, whose teenage son Joel Exner was killed at Eastern Creek last year, sparking the inquiry, asked why the community was still waiting for killer bosses to be held responsible.

"We need these laws now, not tomorrow," she told a press conference. "I would like to know how opponents (of corporate manslaughter) can sleep at night, knowing these laws could save people's lives."

The NSW Labor Council, AMWU and CFMEU have been at the forefront of campaigning for industrial manslaughter laws in the state. The issue was forced into the Government's consciousness when 10,000 workers marched on Macquarie St in the wake of Exner being killed, just three days into his first job.

"Bob Carr went around the state with his tough-on-crime message before the election," says AMWU state secretary, Paul Bastian. "Well, this is his chance to deliver on workplace crime that takes lives.

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Last modified: Tuesday, 15-Nov-2005 20:37:38 EST