South Australia has reached a grim milestone in its workplace safety enforcement history, with the state’s first ever industrial manslaughter charges laid against an Adelaide manufacturing company and two of its directors — nearly two years after a 28-year-old worker was fatally struck by a metal object ejected from a milling machine.
SafeWork SA laid charges on 23 July 2026 against Nylastex Tooling Pty Ltd and its parent company Nylastex Holdings Pty Ltd, along with two directors, under section 30A of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA) — the industrial manslaughter provision that came into force only weeks before the incident that triggered it. A project manager has also been charged separately under section 31 of the Act for allegedly engaging in gross negligence or reckless conduct.
Lachlan Carslake died on 24 July 2024 at the company’s Edwardstown manufacturing facility, allegedly struck in the head by a metal object ejected while he was operating a milling machine. SafeWork SA alleges the machine was fitted with an interlock guarding switch specifically designed to prevent the machine from operating at a hazardous speed with the guard open — but that this switch had been disabled or bypassed on the machine Mr Carslake was using.
Critically, SafeWork SA further alleges that an external technician engaged by Nylastex Tooling had advised the company of safety concerns regarding that very guarding switch just two days before Mr Carslake died. That warning, it is alleged, was not acted on.
All parties were expected to appear in court in August 2026.
Maximum penalties
Under SA’s industrial manslaughter laws, individual offenders face a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment. Corporate offenders face a maximum fine of $18 million. These are among the most severe workplace safety penalties available anywhere in Australia.
Why this matters
The significance of this prosecution extends well beyond the individuals and entities charged. SA’s industrial manslaughter laws only came into force weeks before Mr Carslake’s death, making this prosecution the first real test of the legislation’s reach. For directors, executives and anyone classified as a PCBU in South Australia, these charges send an unambiguous message: the bypassing of safety interlocks — particularly where warnings have been received — will now be scrutinised through the lens of criminal law, not just regulatory compliance.
