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.
