CTU MEDIA RELEASE

21 June 2012

Liability for death of Charanpreet Dhaliwal

The CTU welcomes moves from the Department of Labour to lay charges over the death of Charanpreet Dhaliwal who was murdered on his first night at work as a security guard on a Fulton Hogan worksite, but has raised the issue of the ‘chain of responsibility’ in such situations.

Helen Kelly, CTU President, said “Charanpreet Dhaliwal was employed by a small security firm who in turn was contracted by Fulton Hogan to provide security for a site where they had been having trouble with attempted break ins. It is unclear if either Fulton Hogan or Charanpreet’s employer made any consideration of how to keep him safe.”

“We are asking the Labour Department to consider whether a prosecution should also be considered for Fulton Hogan in these circumstances”.

"Fulton Hogan benefitted from Charanpreet’s work that night – they had all the benefit but organised the employment so they did not have the reciprocal responsibility that usually accompanies an employment relationship. We are calling for the law to recognise that the responsibility for an employee’s safety lies with the company who benefits from their work – Fulton Hogan in this case.”

"This will encourage greater care from the principal company who is contracting out the work, and remove some of the incentive of contracting out to avoid the full employment responsibility."

“This tragic case highlights a potential gap in our law at present when someone is employed by one company and working for another. The contractor is the employer, but they are not in control of the worksite or the activities happening in it, while the “receiving” employer who gains the benefit of the work, Fulton Hogan in this case, does control the workplace, but doesn’t have direct responsibility for the health and safety of the workers who are contracted.”

“If necessary, this matter could be considered by the Taskforce established to review health and safety at work”.

“This is one example of a growing trend towards using contracted labour to provide services on sites owned and run by another company,” says Kelly “and it is a growing trend that’s putting workers at risk.”

Helen Kelly said there is a general requirement that organisations protect their workers' safety and but more than that, we need a culture at work that places health and safety as the highest priority.

ENDS

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