Bread company fined $3.4m over workplace manslaughter
A company has been fined more than $3 million for failing to provide safety instructions to a worker who fell to his death while removing roof insulation panels.
Risham Nominees Pty Ltd, operator of garlic bread maker Centenary Bakehouse, was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Thursday for the death of Jassim Al Shadori.
Mr Al Shadori fell 4.5 meters while removing panels from the roof of the Reservoir tank in Melbourne’s north on 1 August 2021.
The person, who suffered serious head injuries, died at the scene.
Risham Nominees has pleaded guilty to workplace manslaughter, making the company only the second to be fined since the charge was introduced in Victoria in 2020.
Judge Jacinta Forbes found on Thursday that the risk of Mr Al Shadori falling was “easily foreseeable” and that company director Samir Hamod should have been aware of it.
However, the judge noted that Mr Al Shadori and other workers were not given any safety instructions, but instead were simply told to do the job safely.
He also said there was an unused harness at the site.
Judge Forbes noted that Mr Al Shadori was an Iraqi immigrant who moved to Australia with his family for a better life.
The judge said he was a hard-working and generous man to others and that this sentence did not reflect the value of his life.
Judge Forbes accepted that the Risham Nominees regretted the death of Mr Al Shadori and had taken steps to address occupational health and safety concerns.
This included paying $34,000 to a contractor to safely remove the panels and hiring safety consultants to conduct risk assessment inspections.
The WorkSafe review in January 2025 also found that the company had carried out relevant risk assessments and implemented training to ensure workers were safe.
Judge Forbes accepted that the company was of good character, noting that it had no previous criminal record and had made many contributions to charity over the years.
Convicted Risham Nominees and fined them $3.4 million.
The first company to be convicted of workplace manslaughter was LJ Holding Management Pty Ltd, which was re-fined $3.1 million on appeal in April 2025.
