SafeWork SA | A scaffolding company has been fined $6,000 after failing to comply with a formal SafeWork SA notice requiring information about safety concerns at a construction site.

Tedesco Scaffold Services Pty Ltd pleaded guilty and has been sentenced in the South Australian Employment Court following a SafeWork SA prosecution.

It is only the second time a company has been successfully prosecuted for this type of offence in South Australia.

The offence arose from the company’s failure to respond within two weeks to a formal notice issued under section 155 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012.

The notice required the company to provide information relating to safety concerns identified by SafeWork SA inspectors at a residential construction site.

SafeWork SA inspectors attended the site on 6 October 2023 and issued prohibition and improvement notices relating to scaffolding and site safety.

On 9 November 2023, a formal section 155 notice was emailed to the company’s director, requiring specified information to be provided by 23 November 2023.

The company failed to respond within the required timeframe despite receiving the notice and subsequent reminders from inspectors.

A partial response was eventually provided months later after further contact from SafeWork SA.

In his sentencing remarks, Deputy President Lieschke found the company had committed an “objectively serious breach” of its obligation to respond to a formal notice issued by SafeWork SA.

A conviction was recorded and the company was fined $6,000. The company was also ordered to pay a victims of crime levy of $278 and SafeWork SA’s legal costs of $1,210.

SafeWork NSW | Fitzmoore Group Pty Ltd has been fined $390,000 in the Industrial Court of NSW as a result of a prosecution by SafeWork NSW.

These proceedings arose from an incident on 23 October 2023, when a worker was seriously injured after falling about three metres through a skylight void from one level to another.

Fitzmoore Group Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 for failing to comply with its health and safety duty to workers under section 19(1) of the Act.

Fitzmoore Group Pty Ltd has the right to appeal against the sentence.

WorkSafe Victoria | A water tank construction and repair company has been convicted and fined $50,000 after an engineering student was injured at a residential site in Keysborough.

JS Armstrong Water Tanks Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to health.

The company was also ordered to pay $4,452 in costs.

The court heard JS Armstrong workers were carrying out work within a large excavation on the property in preparation for the installation of an 89,000-litre water tank.

In March 2024, a 20-year-old engineering student assisting with shovelling work at the site was leaning over the edge to pass a bottle of water into the excavation when the ground beneath her gave way.

She fell three metres into the excavation and landed on a brick, suffering a vertebral fracture, spine tenderness, and whiplash.

A WorkSafe investigation found the excavation site had no warning signs, fencing, or battering, and that soil was seen peeling away from the walls of the excavation while workers were inside.

JS Armstrong admitted it was reasonably practicable to have reduced the risk by ensuring the sides of the excavation were battered, there was a safe entry point to the excavation, and barricades or warning barriers were placed at least one metre from the edge of the excavation before any work was performed.

Government of Western Australia | An Osborne Park business has been fined after falsely declaring an electrical apprentice had completed the practical workplace training required to become a licensed electrician.

At Perth Magistrates Court, Heptad Holdings Pty Ltd, trading as WA Rewind Co, was ordered to pay more than $23,000 in fines and costs following prosecution by WA’s electrical safety regulator, the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety’s Building and Energy division.

According to the Department, the case reinforces that employers must ensure electrical apprentices receive training across all mandatory competencies and, if needed, take reasonable steps to arrange suitable work placements with another employer.

Heptad Holdings pleaded guilty to breaching the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991, which prohibits falsifying any matter relating to a licence application.

The court heard the apprentice’s workplace experience was mostly limited to maintenance and repair of electric pumps and motors, which the business specialised in.

Heptad Holdings was not licensed to carry out electrical installing work and did not provide practical electrical installing experience required by the apprenticeship.

However, the company certified that the apprentice had achieved electrical installation competencies and signed a Training Contract Completion Agreement declaring that all apprenticeship requirements had been met.

The declaration enabled the apprentice to obtain a Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician, which was subsequently used to support an application for an electrical worker’s licence.

In sentencing, Magistrate Philip Urquhart recognised this was a significant oversight that resulted in a person entering an industry involving “dangerous work” that should not be undertaken by an unqualified person.

WorkSafe Victoria | A Geelong flooring manufacturer will spend $150,000 to improve health and safety outcomes after a truck driver was struck by a forklift at its Breakwater facility.

The Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd had entered into an enforceable undertaking while facing charges of failing to provide a safe working environment and failing to ensure that persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks.

WorkSafe may reinstate the charges if the undertaking is contravened or withdrawn.

In July 2024, a driver contracted by another company was waiting for his truck to be packed with carpet tiles in Godfrey Hirst’s Breakwater facility loading area when he was struck in the back by a forklift.

The driver was knocked to the ground and briefly lost consciousness, requiring hospital treatment for bruising on the back of his ankle.

WorkSafe alleges the company failed to reduce the risk to health and safety by failing to have a traffic management plan in place to protect anyone in the loading area, including truck drivers and forklift operators.

The estimated $150,000 undertaking requires Godfrey Hirst within 14 months to:

  • Implement additional safety features at the Breakwater facility, including:
    • Smart boom gates using facial recognition to only allow staff who have completed necessary induction and training to access the highest-risk area of the workplace.
    • Artificial intelligence cameras around the workplace to continuously monitor traffic zones and on forklifts to enhance safety features such as pedestrian detection and speed reduction.
  • Create and deliver an industry training seminar on learnings from the incident with the support of the Geelong Manufacturing Council.
  • Make a $10,000 donation to the Barwon Health Foundation, supporting services and care provided in Geelong and surrounding regions.

SafeWork NSW | Swain Farms Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $60,000 in the Industrial Court of NSW as a result of a prosecution by SafeWork NSW.

The proceedings arose from an incident on 6 August 2023, when a worker sustained serious injury when they came into contact with an unguarded auger.

Swain Farms pleaded guilty to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 for failing to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers as required under section 19(1) of the Act.

Swain Farms has the right to appeal against the sentence.

SafeWork NSW | Ben Furney Flour Mills Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $90,000 in the Industrial Court of NSW as a result of a prosecution by SafeWork NSW.

The proceedings arose from an incident on 23 February 2023, when workers were exposed to chlorine gas while carrying out work for the company.

Ben Furney Flour Mills plead guilty to an offence pursuant to section 33 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 for failing to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers as required under section 19(1) of the Act.

SafeWork Commissioner Petrina Casey said: “Risk control measures when working with potential hazardous substances are well known.”

“SafeWork NSW reminds all businesses of their duty to ensure their workplaces are safe for employees and contractors.

“Having an awareness and assessment of the risks, along with implementation of safe systems of work, is key to reducing the number of incidents related to chemical exposure.”

SafeWork SA | A South Australian demolition company has been convicted and fined $72,000 after a worker suffered serious injuries when he was struck by an excavator at a residential site.

A. Haros Demolition Pty Ltd was sentenced in the South Australian Employment Court following a SafeWork SA prosecution.

The company pleaded guilty to a Category 2 offence under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 for failing to comply with its health and safety duty to a worker.

The offence related to demolition work being undertaken at a residential property on South Road, Thebarton, on 15 November 2023.

Leading up to the incident, a worker was picking and sorting debris while an excavator was being operated nearby. At about 3.30pm, the excavator bucket became caught on a tree root and swung towards the worker, striking his left foot.

The worker sustained a severe crush injury that resulted in the amputation of all toes and part of the forefoot on his left foot.

A SafeWork SA investigation found the company failed to adequately enforce key safety controls, including maintaining an exclusion zone around the excavator, implementing an effective communication system between workers and the excavator operator, and ensuring a spotter was present when workers were working near operating mobile plant.

The court heard that while a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) identified these controls, they were not adequately enforced on the day of the incident.

In his sentencing remarks, Auxiliary Judge Hannon said the risk of injury from workers being struck by mobile plant was obvious and had already been identified by the company in its own safety documentation.

The court recorded a conviction and imposed a fine of $120,000, which was reduced by 40% to $72,000 for the company’s early guilty plea.

The company was also ordered to pay SafeWork SA’s legal costs of $1,210 and a Victims of Crime Levy of $451.

SafeWork NSW | Wumbulgal Agriculture Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $555,000 in the Industrial Court of NSW as a result of a prosecution by SafeWork NSW.

The proceedings arose from an incident in February 2023 involving a fatal injury to a worker who was using a quad bike when he struck a mound at speed.

Wumbulgal Agriculture Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) for failing to comply with its health and safety duty to workers under section 19(1) of the Act.

The Court also made an order for Wumbulgal Agriculture Pty Ltd to arrange for its workers to undertake a side-by-side vehicle training course and provide evidence of satisfactory completion of the training to SafeWork NSW.

Wumbulgal Agriculture Pty Ltd has the right to appeal against its sentence.

WorkSafe Victoria | A transport company has been convicted and fined $330,000 after a driver died following a fall from a truck’s elevated tailgate at a commercial laundry in Dandenong South.

Rodrigues Transport Pty Ltd, now in liquidation, was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court after earlier pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace.

The court heard the company was engaged to support laundry collection and delivery operations by providing vehicles and approved truck drivers.

On arrival at the Dandenong South laundry, drivers would reverse into a dock and lower the truck’s tailgate to form a bridge which was then used to load or unload linen trolleys.

In June 2023, two drivers were working in neighbouring docks when one heard a loud noise and realised the other driver had fallen approximately 1.2 metres from an elevated tailgate onto the concrete floor.

The 60-year-old man was taken to hospital but later died from his injuries.

A WorkSafe investigation found the truck involved in the incident did not have fall protection safety rails installed on the tailgate at the time.

It was reasonably practicable for Rodrigues Transport to reduce the risk of serious injury or death by installing safety rails on the truck’s tailgate and implementing a standard operating procedure that required their use and identified the procedure for doing so.

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