Abstract:
The recent decision of WorkSafe New Zealand v Budget Plastics (New Zealand) Ltd was the first prosecution to be under the Health and Safety at Work Act (HASWA) 2015. The case was brought in the Palmerston North District Court. The Court said that the sentencing principles in Department of Labour v Hanham & Philp Contractors Ltd were still to be applied under the HASWA 2015, but with higher corresponding bands to set the amount of the fines. However, in a significant departure from previous criminal cases under health and safety laws, the Court indicated that, if the circumstances of the offending are egregious enough, it may be willing to disregard pecuniosity as a factor when setting the amount of the fine. Even if the consequence of the fine spells the death of the business.
