Unions are pushing for new state laws that would introduce massive fines and criminal sanctions for companies and managers found to have contributed to workplace deaths through negligence.
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Unions Tasmania secretary Jessica Munday said Tasmania was the only state lacking so-called 'industrial manslaughter' laws, and that the Liberal government's promise last year to "consult" about bringing in such laws wasn't good enough.
She said 7,500 workers compensation claims were lodged in the state last year, and 85 workplace fatalities took place in the decade to 2022.
"I don't want to see that number continue to grow, we do not accept that deaths at work are inevitable, there is no such thing as a workplace accident," she said.
"If this government is serious about making sure employers are doing the right thing and workers are truly safe, they will implement these laws."
Guy Hudson, whose 16 year-old son Matthew died at the Blue Ribbon Killafaddy meatworks in 2004 after a forklift flipped over, said he wanted to see bigger fines and harsher penalties for companies found to be negligent.
"It rips away your belief system and leaves you to navigate the rest of your life broken when we see justice in the case of a drunk driver killing their passenger, yet those responsible for industrial deaths go free," he said.
"When industrial deaths are dealt with in a court of petty sessions, it's a slap in the face for the families of those killed in the workplace."
Authorities fined the owners of the Blue Ribbon Killafaddy meatworks $25,000 for the incident, before it was later appealed.
Ms Munday said new industrial manslaughter laws similar to the ones introduced in Queensland in 2017 would provide a "positive deterrence impact".
"If ... all of the employers lift their safety standards and workers don't die, that's a good thing," she said.
But employer groups have warned that the proposed laws could penalise well-meaning employers.
Tasmanian Minerals, Manufacturing and Energy Council chief executive Ray Mostogl also said that Tasmania already has laws on the books that penalise companies and individuals whose negligence contributes to the serious injury or death of a worker.
Master Electricians Australia spokesman Chris Lehmann said employer groups like his were "strongly opposed" to the introduction of laws in Tasmania similar to the ones enacted in Queensland.
The Queensland law provides for maximum fines of up $10 million and jail terms for negligent individuals of up to 20 years.
"The laws passed in Queensland are not ones that other state governments should be looking to emulate," Mr Lehmann said.
"Everyone believes people have the right to get home from work safe.
"But employers can't be everywhere all at once - they are being held criminally responsible for circumstances that are beyond their control."
He gave the tragic example of a Victorian electrician's apprentice who died on the job after accidentally electrocuting himself.
His employer was prosecuted under the state's industrial manslaughter laws and ultimately lost his business, despite the court finding that the apprentice had disregarded the company's safety policies.
Ms Munday suggested that there was "no such thing as a workplace accident".
When questioned about it and whether companies should be held accountable for mistakes by its workers, Ms Munday said workplace deaths were usually the result of a system failure or a bad decision.
"Usually if someone dies on a job ... somewhere a decision was made or not made, or a system failed," she said.
"We don't accept the line that 'there's always going to be accidents' - we think we should work to make sure there aren't."
The government has been contacted for comment.
