A Victorian company has been hit with a $3 million fine after a court ruled it was responsible for the state’s first conviction under workplace manslaughter laws.
The stonemasonry business, LH Holding Management Pty Ltd, was initially fined $1.3 million in 2023 for the death of subcontractor Michael Tsahrelias, who was fatally injured when a forklift tipped over and crushed him at a Somerton warehouse in 2021. The vehicle had been operated by the company’s owner, Laith Hanna, who was reversing it down a slope at the time of the incident.
Footage from both inside the warehouse and across the street captured the harrowing accident, which was described by the original sentencing judge as deeply distressing.
Following an appeal by the Office of Public Prosecutions, Victoria’s Court of Appeal increased the financial penalty against the company to $3 million. The court found the original fine did not adequately reflect the seriousness of the safety failings involved.
While the judges acknowledged that the offence was not the most severe example of workplace manslaughter, they determined that there had been a “very significant departure” from standard safety practices. They also noted the likelihood that the new fine would remain unpaid due to the company’s financial situation, but said imposing it was necessary to uphold principles of deterrence.
Efforts to increase the personal penalty against Hanna — who had been fined $120,000 and sentenced to 200 hours of community service — were rejected by the court.
Victoria’s workplace manslaughter laws, introduced in 2020, include potential prison terms of up to 25 years for individuals and multi-million-dollar fines for companies. This case marks the first time the laws have led to a successful prosecution and sentencing.
WorkSafe’s Director of Health and Safety, Sam Jenkin, described the incident as an avoidable loss of life, blaming negligence and failure to uphold basic safety responsibilities.
“While no penalty can ever replace a life, this outcome sends a clear message that employers will be held to account when they fail to protect their workers,” he said.
