The EPA investigates, and finds leaking drums. The employees who knew about the leak believed that the waste contractor would attend to the problem, and did not advise company management. Your company is prosecuted for failure to notify the incident, in addition to other offences in relation to waste management. It is no defence that the relevant employees were ignorant of the duty to notify. Employers must take all reasonable steps, for example erecting a sign, to ensure that employees will notify them of incidents.
Some fertiliser is spilled while it is being unloaded at a truck distribution centre.
Someone inappropriately uses a hose to wash the spillage into the stormwater system. The centre supervisor advises the local council as soon as he or she becomes aware of what has happened. The local council is able to arrange for most of the nutrient-rich liquid to be trapped in the stormwater system and absorbed before it reaches natural watercourses. The distribution centre reimburses council for its clean-up expenses. The council does not prosecute the distribution centre for causing water pollution, or only issues a penalty notice, because of the cooperation shown, including through early notification of the incident.