Danika is a Special Counsel in the King & Wood Mallesons Employee Relations and Safety team, specialising in work health and safety.
With over a decade of specialist experience, Danika is passionate about helping her clients build safer workplaces by providing practical and solutions-driven advice that empowers them to confidently navigate all aspects of work health and safety – from day-to-day operational issues through to managing critical incident response, regulatory enforcement action and major safety projects.
Working predominantly with clients in the mining and resources, construction, transport and manufacturing sectors, Danika has a deep understanding of both the general and industry-specific regulatory frameworks her clients operate in.
She is regularly called on and trusted by clients in the aftermath of serious workplace incidents, and often advises on notification obligations, investigation processes and engagement with regulators and unions. She also regularly provides independent advice to individual workers, ensuring that they are supported through the various processes that follow a workplace incident.
Danika has acted in defence of numerous work health and safety prosecution matters, including an industrial manslaughter charge and various charges against individual workers. She has also successfully negotiated alternative arrangements in several prosecution matters, resulting in enforceable undertakings and other agreements that led to a reduction or withdrawal of charges.
Danika has also advised clients on a number of novel and emerging work health and safety issues, such as the introduction of automation technologies in safety-critical work environments, management of risks associated with COVID-19 and addressing medicinal cannabis and other drug use in the workplace.
Danika’s key areas of expertise include:
- Crisis management, incident response and investigations;
- Responding to regulatory compliance activities and enforcement action;
- Prosecutions, coronial inquests and investigations;
- Contractor management;
- Advising on WHS matters in connection with major infrastructure projects;
- Compliance and risk management;
- Audit and assurance activities;
- Officer due diligence.
Danika has been named as a “Rising Star” by Doyles (2023) and the Legal 500 (2020), both recognising her as a future leading lawyer in work health and safety.
