In this case, I won't go into great detail out of respect for the mental health of Mr Woods but the long and short of SafeWork NSW v Woods [2023] NSWDC 510 (Finalised 22 November 2023 before Judge Scotting) is that Mr Woods was a director of a company, whilst on a jobsite he overlooked the need to have edge protection and/or scaffolding whilst a worker was 6 metres off the ground.
The worker fell and sustained serious injuries. Now usually I am not gentle on negligence, just look to my last article for proof of that, but I am more than willing to respect accountability. It should be known that since the incident:
Mr Woods has stopped working in the construction sector altogether.
Mr Woods has moved to Queensland.
Mr Woods has accepted full responsibility for his failings that led to the injury of the worker and has expressed his deep sorrow for the incident. He also was constantly checking up on the welfare of the worker.
He did not oppose any penalty and took full accountability for his actions - this is so rare in court which is why:
Judge Scotting decided that the courts job was pretty much done without a sentence. Mr Woods has suffered psychologically since the incident, has not downplayed the seriousness of it and took accountability and left the sector altogether so that this could never happen again. At that point you have a person where there is no real need to penalise them as they've already corrected the offending behaviour.
Obviously sharing that logic, Judge Scotting basically ordered a blend of a Section 10 (conviction, but no further penalty) and an Undertaking (in this case, basically a good behaviour bond). Provided that Mr Woods is of good behaviour until November 2025, that is pretty much the end of the matter.
He must tender a psychologist report to SafeWork NSW next year and that is it. This is a rare case where a person is inherently good but made a mistake and took full accountability for that mistake so the judge would likely ask "what good comes from punishing such a person".
In any case, I hope Mr Woods and the worker recover well and I am glad to see judicial discretion used in cases where it was intended for.