A Canberra-based metal manufacturing business, as well as its site manager, have been recently convicted of failing to comply with a health and safety duty risking death or serious injury. Collectively they have been ordered to pay nearly $400,000 in fines and costs.
On January 12, 2022, an employee was using a winding machine to cut a cable when it jammed, causing unsecured racking to fall forward and strike the worker’s head, resulting in serious injuries including skull fractures and lacerations.
A WorkSafe investigation revealed that the racking was neither anchored to the floor nor installed by a competent person, as required by Australian Standards and the racking manufacturer’s recommendations.
“The risk of a worker being seriously injured or killed by the falling of unsecured racking and cable drums was known to both defendants and was reasonably foreseeable,” Magistrate Lawton said.
“The risk was obvious and it could have been so easily avoided. This is particularly aggravating,” he said. “The step which ought to have been taken would not have been complex, burdensome nor mildly inconvenient. In fact, the step which ought to have been taken was known to the defendants and was part of the standard installation procedure for racks of this kind.”
The business was fined $375,000 and ordered to pay $35,000 in legal costs, while the site manager was fined $7,500 and ordered to pay $10,000 in legal costs.
The penalties send a strong message, to both businesses and individuals (such as managers), about the importance of complying with safety obligations and show that non-compliance with WHS obligations runs the risk of prosecutions.
For more information on your obligations around the installation of pallet racking or other questions in relation to safety compliance contact our Workplace Relations Advisors on 82912000.
