HMAS Voyager turned across the path of HMAS Melbourne during night flying exercises on 10 Feb 64. Eighty-two people died, leaving a lasting lesson about positive control, authority gradients and the danger of waiting for someone else to intervene.

“It is not against the law to injure people.” It sounded absurd when I first heard it at inspector school. Then I understood the point: WHS and OHS legislation generally regulates duties, risks and breaches, not simply injury outcomes.

Painting and Blasting Industries had procedures, inspections and an external WHS consultant, but an unguarded conveyor remained accessible to workers. The NSW Industrial Court decision provides a strong lesson about guarding, isolation and whether safety audits are actually finding critical hazards.