The Quarry: A Chain of Liability
A Prosecutor’s Briefing on Forced Labour in the Supply Chain
The Context
Evidence from the Bundi region of India establishes a system of intergenerational debt bondage in sandstone quarries. Families are trapped by debts of Rs 50,000 to Rs 2,00,000, passed from parent to child. This is a direct breach of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, and the Child and Adolescent Labour Act. Children work to repay these debts. Adult workers develop silicosis by their mid-30s. Enforcement is actively denied by local officials. While no specific 2025 prosecution case is cited, the documented pattern of exploitation is the trigger. Your supply chain may be sourcing from this system.
The Risk
Directors, your liability is direct and personal. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, a PCBU’s duty extends to ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of other persons. This includes workers in your supply chain. A failure to conduct due diligence on forced labour may indicate a breach of this duty. The Companies Act 1993 imposes duties of care, diligence, and good faith. Ignoring evidence of systemic exploitation could be construed as a failure of that duty. Precedents in other jurisdictions show fines in the tens of millions and personal disqualification for directors. The maximum penalties under the HSWA are severe: fines of up to $3 million for a body corporate and $600,000 or five years’ imprisonment for an individual. Your reputation is the secondary casualty.
The Control
You must mandate forensic, evidence-based supply chain due diligence. This is not a CSR exercise. It is a legal compliance requirement. Audit trails must be contractual, financial, and physical. Map your supply chain to the raw material source. Implement unannounced third-party audits with worker interviews conducted in safe, private settings. Treat any supplier opacity as a critical red flag. Your procurement contracts must contain explicit, enforceable modern slavery clauses with a right to audit and immediate termination for breach.
The Challenge
These are the critical questions you should be raising at the board table:
| Can we demonstrate, with documented evidence, that our due diligence process is robust enough to identify and sever links to debt-bonded labour, specifically in high-risk commodity chains like sandstone? | |
| If evidence of forced labour is found in our supply chain, what is our immediate legal protocol for disclosure, mitigation, and reporting to satisfy our duties under the HSWA 2015 and the Companies Act? | |
| Does our Director’s and Officer’s (D&O) liability insurance explicitly cover claims arising from breaches of modern slavery laws, including defence costs for personal prosecutions? |