Safety Obligations of Receivers and Managers

By Lea Constantine

Persons appointed as receivers and managers of a company may be personally liable for breaches of occupational health and safety laws in NSW.

WorkCover prosecuted Mr Robert Scales under s50 of the NSW Occupational Health and Safety Act 1983) as the company for which he was appointed receiver and manager, Presswell Holdings Pty Ltd, had breached the Act. The Chief Industrial Magistrate (CIM) found that there had been a breach of s15(1) of the Act after an employee had been injured in a machine at the company's site. The CIM also found that Mr Scales was a 'person concerned in the management of the corporation' under s50.

(Lexis Nexis Employment Law Bulletin. vol. 10, no 5, July 2004)