(Australia) A Kalgoorlie engineering company has been fined $685,000, and ordered to pay $21,413 in costs, over the death of a worker.
Monadelphous Engineering Associates Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing the death of the worker, and was fined in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court.
The company provides maintenance and industrial services to heavy industry, including construction, painting, and abrasive blasting of metal structures.
In March 2020, the worker was acting as spotter for another worker who was using a telehandler to move a large heavy metal frame structure weighing 648kg.
The frame, which was an unstable load lacking designated lifting points, was lifted by the telehandler forks under its horizontal top bar. The frame was not secured to the forks.
While in the process of being unloaded from the telehandler, the metal frame moved off the forks and fell onto the worker, inflicting fatal crush injuries. Immediately before it fell, the worker had been inside and underneath the frame.
WorkSafe Commissioner Sally North said the case should serve as a warning to have safe work procedures in place around mobile plant, especially if that plant is supporting a load: “The court heard that neither of the workers involved in this incident had completed any specific training with respect to exclusion zones.
“Following this incident, Monadelphous issued a safety alert to all its sites instructing that no person was to enter within three metres of any load during movement using a telehandler, but unfortunately this was too late for the young man who lost his life in this incident.
“This case should serve as a reminder to workplaces using mobile plant that risk assessments need to be undertaken for each task.”
— Accurate at time of publication | February 2025
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