I am often asked about the extent of health and safety legislation. How far do duties reach in terms of people and geographical location?
A recent case in Victoria (sentenced in January 2025) shows the range of the application of health and safety law.
The tragic incident involved the death of a 16-year-old student, Lachlan Cook, who was on a school excursion in Vietnam in 2019. This excursion was arranged by the school through a tour operator. It was attended by two teachers from the school and an expedition leader from the tour operator.
Lachlan had type 1 diabetes. He developed diabetic symptoms during the excursion, that ultimately ended his life.
The school had diabetes action and management plans in place for Lachlan. The investigation determined that the school did not provide the teachers on the excursion with the management plan or with training on how to identify and manage diabetic symptoms.
The tour operator knew of Lachlan’s medical information but failed to relay it to the tour leader. They also did not have procedures in place for the management of diabetes.
The resulting sentence was for “failure to ensure persons other than employees are not exposed to risk to health and safety arising from employer’s undertaking” under section 23 of the OHS Act 2004 Victoria.
The school was fined $140,000 and the expedition company was fined $150,000
What does this case show us? Our workplace duties extend beyond our direct employees and workers. It extends to anyone who can be impacted by our work activities or our failure to manage them.
Secondly our duty of care reaches beyond our state boundaries. The law applies where anyone may be impacted by our work, it’s systems or the lack of their implementation.
I believe a key message here is the importance of communication. Effective communication becomes even more vital when there are multiple parties and more complex arrangements. Having systems in place is futile if those who implement them are not part of the process.
Most importantly and shamefully, Lachlan’s death was entirely preventable.
The full sentencing remarks can be read here: https://www.countycourt.vic.gov.au/files/documents/2025-01/sentencing-remarks-dpp-v-kilvington-grammar-ltd-and-anor.pdf
