Workplace manslaughter fine increased to $3 million on appeal
11 Apr 2025•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
The Victorian Supreme Court has increased LH Holding Management Pty Ltd’s workplace manslaughter fine from $1.3 million to $3 million on appeal. An appeal against the sentence imposed on its sole director, Laith Hanna, was dismissed.
LH Holding Management, trading as Universal Stone and Marble, was originally convicted and fined $1.3 million in February 2024. It pleaded guilty to one charge of negligent conduct that breached a duty owed to another person and caused their death. Following an appeal, the Victorian Supreme Court set aside that fine and imposed a $3 million penalty.
Hanna, 48, was convicted and given a two-year Community Corrections Order after pleading guilty to one charge of being an officer of a company that committed workplace manslaughter. The contravention was solely attributable to his failure to take reasonable care. His sentence was unchanged after the appeal was dismissed.
The charges followed the death of a 25-year-old subcontractor in October 2021. Hanna was operating a forklift with a raised load on a sloping driveway when it tipped over and landed on the subcontractor.
WorkSafe’s investigation found the company could reasonably have reduced the risk of serious injury or death by keeping the forklift’s load as low as possible, reversing down slopes or inclines, keeping other people at a safe distance, and ensuring the forklift was not driven across or turned on a slope or incline.
The company’s failure to put those measures in place was negligent because it fell far below the care a reasonable person would have taken in the circumstances and involved a high risk of death or serious injury.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said the decision demonstrated that workplace manslaughter was a serious criminal offence carrying severe consequences. "This young man's death was a completely preventable tragedy – one entirely caused by the employer's negligence and complete disregard for basic health and safety obligations."
"While no penalty will ever make up for a life lost, today's decision reinforces that WorkSafe – and the courts – will hold negligent employers accountable when they fail in their ultimate responsibility to protect the lives of their workers."
How Blue Safe can help: Our free WHS self-check can help you review your business’s approach to workplace health and safety duties and identify areas that need closer attention. Take the free WHS self-check