WorkSafe Victoria | A frozen food manufacturer with a history of workplace health and safety offending has been convicted and fined another $180,000 after a worker’s finger was lacerated in a dough-mixing machine.

Makmur Enterprises Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to failing to provide a safe working environment and failing to provide safe plant with an interlocking guard.

The court also ordered the company to pay $5,816 in costs.

In October 2024, a worker at Makmur’s Richmond factory was operating a dough-mixing machine, using a metal scraper to move dough from the edge of the bowl closer to the agitator.

During this process, the metal scraper struck the rotating agitator blade and the worker’s finger was crushed between the scraper and another part of the machine, causing a laceration that required hospital treatment.

A WorkSafe investigation found that while Makmur had installed a metal grill to reduce access to the rotating agitator blades, there were still large gaps that allowed a person to reach their hand or arm behind the grill into the danger area.

Makmur admitted it was reasonably practicable to have used a combination of fixed and openable guarding connected to an interlock to prevent access to the danger area while the machine was operating.

The company has previously been fined a total of $345,000 after being charged in relation to five similar incidents dating back to 2014.

WorkSafe Victoria | A supermarket worker who was caught running a chilli sauce business while receiving compensation for a work-related injury has been ordered to pay back more than $117,000.

Gary Janson, 58, was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court after earlier pleading guilty to a single charge of fraudulently obtaining payments.

In addition to the restitution order, he was convicted and placed on an 18-month Community Corrections Order with a condition to complete 220 hours of unpaid community work.

The court heard Janson began receiving weekly compensation payments in June 2014 after lodging a claim for a shoulder injury sustained at work.

A WorkSafe investigation later found that Janson had started a chilli sauce business in October 2021, selling products online and at markets, shows, and festivals across Victoria and interstate.

During that time, Janson did not disclose his business and continued to submit certificates declaring he had not worked and had no capacity to work, receiving $117,121.41 in weekly compensation payments before they were terminated in October 2023.

When advised of the termination, Janson claimed the business was his son’s and maintained that he could not even lift his arm up to be able to work.

However, records revealed Janson was registered as the sole director, secretary, and shareholder while the company’s website listed him as the owner.

Surveillance footage also showed Janson setting up and packing up market stalls, lifting and carrying large boxes, and raising both arms for extended periods of time.

SafeWork NSW | LiveBetter Services Limited has been fined $675,000 in the District Court of NSW as a result of a prosecution by SafeWork NSW.

The proceedings arise from an incident on 2 February 2022 in which a client of LiveBetter died as a result of injuries she sustained after being placed in hot bathwater whilst in the care of two disability support workers employed by LiveBetter.

LiveBetter Services Limited pleaded guilty to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) for failing to comply with its duty under section 19(2) of the Act.

LiveBetter Services Limited has the right to appeal against the sentence.

SafeWork NSW | Northwest Recycling Centre Pty Ltd has been fined $472,500 in the District Court of NSW as a result of a prosecution by SafeWork NSW.

The proceedings arose from a serious incident on 8 July 2022, when a worker was fatally injured while attempting to clear a blockage in a Van Gelder Green Waste Grinder from within the feed chute.

Northwest Recycling Centre Pty Ltd plead guilty to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) for failing to comply with its duty to workers under section 19(1) of the Act.

Northwest Recycling Centre Pty Ltd has the right to appeal against the sentence.

Government of Western Australia | WA’s energy safety regulator is warning electrical contractors that it is illegal and dangerous to allow unsupervised work by apprentices and to provide misleading information to authorities.

The message follows almost $30,000 in fines for electrical offences at a Thornlie property, where a tradesman received an electric shock.

Clarkson-based electrical contractor Team Smartfix Pty Ltd and the company’s nominee, Joshua Ryan Howes, attended separate court hearings following prosecution by the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety (LGIRS).

Joshua Hills, an irrigation installer from another company, was also prosecuted for unlicensed electrical work at the same property.

Armadale Magistrates Court heard Team Smartfix sent four of its electrical apprentices to the home in November 2023 to carry out work including replacing an electrical switchboard, repairing and installing light fittings and changing power points.

Electrical laws require an appropriately licensed electrician to effectively supervise the work of electrical apprentices. The court was told that although Mr. Howes claimed to have been at the home and signed an on-site testing sheet, evidence revealed the Team Smartfix apprentices were unsupervised.

A week later, Mr. Hills received an electric shock while replacing a bore motor at the property. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured.

Several electrical faults were identified in locations where the apprentices had carried out work, including incorrect placement of switchboard components that caused the home’s circuits to become unsafe.

The court heard Team Smartfix provided an inaccurate notice of completion and electrical safety certificate because Mr. Howes had not carried out the checks and tests he signed off on. The company also provided false or misleading information about Mr. Howes’ activities in response to an official request from LGIRS investigators.

At Armadale Magistrates Court, Team Smartfix was fined $20,000 and ordered to pay $984.50 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991 and the Energy Coordination Act 1994 for failing to ensure the apprentices were supervised, carrying out unsafe and non-compliant electrical work, providing inaccurate notices and misleading the regulator.

Also at Armadale Magistrates Court, Mr. Hills was fined $5,000 and ordered to pay costs of $984.50 after pleading guilty to carrying out electrical work related to the bore without holding the required electrical licence or permit.

At Joondalup Magistrates Court, Mr. Howes pleaded guilty to three charges under the Regulations for signing the inaccurate notice and certificate. He was fined $4,500 and ordered to pay costs of $1,369.20.

Magistrate Andrew Maughan described the allegations as “serious” and noted Mr. Howes’ early guilty plea and lack of electrical offences since the incident.

Government of Western Australia | A trucking company has been fined $550,000 (and ordered to pay $8,000 in costs) for failing to properly secure a load on one of their trucks that was later involved in a fatal collision.

R.G.R. Road Haulage Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the health and safety of other persons was not put at risk by their work and was fined in the Perth Magistrates Court.

Three mining and construction services companies were also fined a total of $770,000 over the same incident in October 2025.

Those three companies provide services to the civil mining and construction industry, and all played a role in the construction of earthworks at a mine in the Pilbara.

The earthworks required the use of large amounts of water, and the mine operator requested one company to provide a water pump known as a “MegaFill pump”, which was procured by the hire company.

The MegaFill pump is a mobile water pump with two booms, an intake boom and a discharge boom. The booms extend out for use and are folded away for storage and secured for transport.

When folded, the booms can unfold and rotate away from the pump if not properly secured, so the intake boom is secured for transport by way of a chain attached to the boom, a travel mount strap placed over the boom and a travel mount bolt attaching the boom to the pump frame. A precautionary strap is applied over the whole machine.

When this work was completed, a haulage company was engaged to transport the pump back to Perth, where it was demobilised.

The workers involved placed a rachet strap over the intake boom for transport, but they did not attach the chain or the travel bolt, creating a risk that the boom could rotate during transport.

The pump was later loaded onto a semi-trailer, with the travel strap in place. However, the truck driver failed to place a strap over the entire pump or check to see if the travel mount bolt or holding chain had been applied to the intake boom.

When the truck was travelling towards Perth on Great Northern Highway, the ratchet strap securing the intake boom failed and the boom became unrestrained.

At around 9.27pm on 25 July 2022, the intake boom of the pump struck and killed the driver of a truck travelling in the opposite direction just north of Meekatharra.

WorkSafe did not claim that R.G.R. caused the death, however the company did play a part in the incident by failing to ensure the proper restraining of the boom of the water pump that rotated to the other side of the highway during transport.

R.G.R. and its director were also fined a total of $400,000 in March 2025 over another incident, pleading guilty to failing to maintain a safe workplace and, by that failure, causing serious harm to a worker.

SafeWork NSW | Customconstruction Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $100,000, in the District Court of NSW as a result of a prosecution by SafeWork NSW.

These proceedings arose from an incident on 25 July 2022, when a worker sustained injuries after falling approximately 3.8 metres from a two-storey house under construction.

Customconstruction Pty Ltd was engaged as the principal contractor at a construction site at Avalon Beach, New South Wales where the worker was employed to undertake re-sheeting and cladding work.

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

Customconstruction Pty Ltd has the right to appeal against its sentence.

WorkSafe Victoria | Two companies have been fined after a woman was crushed by a 475-kilogramme tank as it was unloaded from a truck at her home in south-west Victoria.

Australian Water Systems Pty Ltd (AWS) and Clark Tanks Transport Pty Ltd (CTT) were sentenced in the Mildura Magistrates’ Court after earlier pleading guilty to a number of charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

AWS was fined $50,000 without conviction for failing to ensure a workplace under its management or control was safe and without risks to health.

CTT was fined a total of $65,000 without conviction for failing to ensure people other than employees weren’t exposed to health and safety risks, failing to notify WorkSafe immediately after an incident, and failing to ensure the site of an incident was not disturbed.

Both companies were also ordered to each pay $3,445 in costs.

The court heard that AWS, trading as Clark Tanks, sold polyethylene rainwater tanks and owned CTT, which delivered tanks, including a delivery to the Nelson property in July 2023.

As the customer and his wife assisted the delivery driver to push the 23,639-litre water tank off the rear of the trailer, it became unstable and fell on top of the woman.

The driver, two neighbours, and the woman’s husband were able to lever the tank off the woman, who suffered a fractured femur, crushed pelvis and ribs, three broken vertebrae, and a punctured lung.

The court heard that it was reasonably practicable for CTT to reduce or eliminate the risk of death or serious injury by implementing and enforcing an exclusion zone from the drop zone while unloading tanks.

Furthermore, it was reasonably practicable for AWS to reduce the risk by developing policies and procedures requiring an exclusion zone during unloading and ensuring that CTT followed the procedures.

SafeWork NSW | Steel-Line Garage Doors Australia Pty Ltd has been fined $450,000 in the Industrial Court of NSW as a result of a prosecution by SafeWork NSW.

The proceedings arose from an incident on 10 October 2022, when a worker was seriously injured when they were struck by a forklift.

Steel-Line Garage Doors Australia plead guilty to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) for failing to comply with its duty under section 19(1) of the Act.

Steel-Line Garage Doors Australia Pty Ltd has the right to appeal against the sentence.

WorkSafe Victoria | A residential construction company has been convicted and fined $40,000 over the risk of a fall from height on a building site in Geelong.

Desbo Industries Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court after earlier pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to heath.

The company was also ordered to pay costs of $4,422.

The court heard the company was engaged as the principal contractor to construct a two-storey residence in the suburb of Grovedale.

In October 2024, a WorkSafe inspector attended the workplace following a report of unsafe work at height practices and observed two contractors installing flooring sheets on the first floor, more than three metres from the ground, without fall protection in place.

Access to the first floor was via an extension ladder in the stair void, where an incomplete attempt had been made to create an exclusion zone using tape.

An investigation revealed the company had three prior interactions with WorkSafe between 2020 and 2024 in relation to the risk of serious injury or death from a fall from height greater than two metres due to inadequate or the absence of any fall protection.

Desbo accepted it was reasonably practicable to reduce the risk at the Grovedale site by restricting access to the first floor until suitable and compliant perimeter guard railing was installed around the perimeter edge and stair void.

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