The charges carry a maximum penalty of $250,000.
Willis St Parking's lawyer, Noel Sainsbury, today argued the potential harm posed by the asbestos and the live electricity were two separate matters, and should be dealt with in different charges.
The company, which has not yet entered a plea, would be unable to plead guilty to the electricity allegations but defend itself against the more serious asbestos allegations if they fell under the same charge.
While the department's summary of facts set out the separate allegations, the particulars needed to be made clear in the charges, Mr Sainsbury said.
"What I'm trying to do is make them nail their colours to the mast," he said.
The department's lawyer, Greg La Hood, argued for the charges to remain as they were.
Asked by Judge Chris Tuohy whether he wanted the charges to remain because the department was out of time to press further charges, Mr La Hood said that was not the main reason.
Failure to take all practicable steps encompassed both matters and they did not need to be dealt with separately, he said.
Judge Tuohy said it was an unusual case because he was not aware of another in which two different types of harm were alleged under the same charge.
He reserved his decision until tomorrow.
