SA Police has indicated it will plead guilty to a criminal charge of failing to maintain a safe workplace after a woman died after becoming trapped in a freezer at one of its training centres.
Debra Summers, 54, was employed by SA Police as a cook and a cleaner when she was found dead in a freezer at the Echunga police training reserve in October 2016.
SafeWork has previously said Ms Summers died of hypothermia and the lock on the freezer had not worked properly.
In September it laid criminal charges against SA Police and the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI), which is responsible for maintaining government sites.
SA Police was charged under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 for failing to maintain a health and safety duty, while the department was charged under the same Act.
In the SA Employment Tribunal today, Frances Nelson QC, for SA Police and the DPTI, said she had received instructions to enter a guilty plea on behalf of the police department.
"As far as SAPOL is concerned, the instructions from the Commissioner are that we are to enter a plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity," Ms Nelson said.
Ms Nelson said while SA Police would formally enter its plea before Christmas, there were "still issues to work out" with DPTI.
The matter returns to court on December 19.
