ACCC takes action against Safety Compliance

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings against Safety Compliance and three individuals related to the company. The company operates its business from Tweed Heads, NSW.

The ACCC alleges false and misleading conduct and coercion by Safety Compliance in relation to sales of workplace safety materials to small businesses. The commission alleges that from about June 2010, Safety Compliance represented during unsolicited telemarketing sales calls to small businesses that:

• state and territory workplace health and safety laws required businesses to maintain information and materials of the same nature as the workplace safety materials offered for sale by Safety Compliance, when in fact such laws did not;
• Safety Compliance was a state or territory workplace health and safety agency, or was affiliated with the relevant state or territory workplace health and safety agency, when in either case it was not; and
• certain persons had agreed to purchase the workplace safety materials when those persons had not agreed to do so.

The ACCC also alleges that when making the telemarketing sales calls and in subsequent communications with potential small business customers, Safety Compliance coerced those businesses to purchase materials sold by Safety Compliance. The ACCC is seeking declarations that Safety Compliance contravened the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the Australian Consumer Law (contained in Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010) and that its shadow director, general manager and director were involved in certain of the alleged contraventions by Safety Compliance.

The ACCC is further seeking orders that the three individuals be disqualified from managing a corporation. The commission is also seeking: injunctions, pecuniary penalties, a disclosure order, an adverse publicity order and costs. A directions hearing is listed for 18 June 2012 in the Federal Court, Sydney.