First aid kit seller in court
BRADLEY Stedman Norrish of Forrest Street, East Perth and sole director of Employment Protection Australia will face 30 charges under the Fair Trading Act, following a recent campaign of promoting first aid kits through the mail.
Mr Norrish and his company will face 60 charges under the Fair Trading and Consumers Act – which could draw him a maximum penalty of $20,000 and his company $100,000.
Consumer Protection will allege that earlier this year Mr Norrish sent out around 20,000 unsolicited letters to small businesses and community groups in Western Australia with the aim of selling first aid kits priced at $259 each.
It will be alleged the letters went out with a heading of Employment Protection Australia and included a logo of Australia with the characters EPA and informed recipients that "it is now required by law that all employers and workplaces have an occupational safety and health compliant first aid supply".
The Department of Consumer and Employment Protection issued two community warnings and commenced an investigation in February 2004 as it had concerns the letters were misleading in suggesting a "one size fits all" approach applies to workplace first aid kits.
"Government Occupational Safety and Health Regulations require all workplaces to have comprehensive first aid materials on their premises that comply with the legislation and are suitable for the particular workplace," Consumer Protection commissioner Patrick Walker said.
"To suggest that any first aid kit will suit all workplaces is inaccurate and would also be dishonest if used to sell a particular first aid kit.
"Another serious concern is that many recipients believed they were dealing with a government agency.
"The use of the abridged name and the logo, together with the format of the letter, created a misleading impression for the many recipients who complained to us."
Once alerted, Consumer Protection moved to intercept letters in a post office box ready for collection, finding 96 letters with money orders totalling $26,806, which will be retuned to the senders.
