Fatality in emergency care leads to WorkSafe charges

A Vic public healthcare provider is facing charges after a patient died at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in June 2024. WorkSafe has charged the provider over duties owed to people receiving care, and health services nationally will watch the outcome closely.

Key points at a glance

• Who has been charged: A Melbourne public health provider, following a death in emergency care.
• Alleged breaches: Two counts — sections 23(1) and 26(1) — covering non-employees plus workplace safety obligations.
• Why this matters: Hospitals and community services carry the same statutory duties as any employer, and clinical governance alone does not satisfy formal risk controls.
• Next step: Court proceedings commence shortly.

What the regulator alleges

The Melbourne-based service is confronted with one charge under section 23(1) of the OHS Act for not ensuring that individuals other than employees were protected from health and safety hazards, as well as one charge under section 26(1) of the OHS Act for failing to guarantee that a workplace under its management and control was safe and free from health risks.

The patient was hospitalised for an urgent mental health evaluation when they ended their own life. The case is scheduled for a filing hearing at a Melbourne court early next month.

Duties extend well beyond staff

Section 23(1) makes plain that duty holders must protect visitors, suppliers and those under clinical supervision from hazards arising out of how work gets done. For hospital and community services, that means the rigour applied to sharps handling or manual tasks must also reach ligature points, observation rounds and escalation protocols.

Regulators have pursued comparable matters across other sectors, including a WorkSafe investigation into a quarry fatality, a probe involving mining machinery and other workplace deaths. Sectors differ; the legal test does not.

Why emergency mental health assessment carries elevated risk

Emergency departments blend high acuity, unfamiliar surroundings and severe time pressure. Consumer distress can escalate within minutes, so environmental design, staffing levels and handover discipline become core management concerns rather than clinical afterthoughts.

Guidance published by Safe Work Australia on psychosocial hazards, together with standards from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, gives providers a defensible benchmark for ward design, observation levels and escalation triggers.

Management measures healthcare providers should review

Prosecutions of this kind usually turn on documentation and evidence of systematic control. Boards and executives should be able to demonstrate, in writing, how each element below is owned and verified.

Governance and ownership

Clear lines of management responsibility, from ward leadership through to the executive suite, prevent gaps where nobody owns a hazard. Assign named roles for environmental audits, security rostering and after-hours support services.

Risk assessment and control

Document hazard identification for every clinical space, rate exposures, then record chosen controls with review dates. A living register beats a dusty binder every time.

Emergency preparedness

Written procedures, rehearsed drills and current escalation lists keep response capability real. Resources such as an Emergency Management Policy and structured emergency response management plans give teams a single source of truth.

Workforce capability and training

Induction, refresher sessions and competency checks should cover de-escalation, observation standards plus incident reporting. Training records form part of any OHS defence.

Incident review and improvement

Every