Gold Coast Corporation Pty Ltd trading as Electric Company

Incident description:

A worker was connecting switchboards at a worksite. The company had supplied a scissor lift to do high work at the site. A decision was made to remove the scissor lift from the job. The worker and a manager began the process of loading the scissor lift. The first attempt was abandoned because the right ramp and ramp pin dislodged. The process began again and the worker began to drive the lift up on to a trailer to transport the lift. While the worker was loading the lift, the manager walked to the front of the trailer to look at the tie down chains. While loading the scissor lift tipped over, fell off the ramp and onto its side injuring the worker.

Investigation findings:

• Limited training had occurred and was not documented.
• No risk assessment had occurred and no documented procedure was in place.
• The trailer used to carry the scissor lift was not purpose built and the alterations to the trailer had not been engineered, although the person may have been competent to do the welding.
• A manager for the company was participating in the activity of loading the lift although he was not trained in the system of work and was not performing his role as a spotter at the time of the incident.

Considerations for prevention:

After the incident, the company:

• immediately reviewed the system of work
• positively fixed the ramps to the trailer
• added side rails to the ramps to prevent driver error
• retrained workers in the system of work
• employed a full-time Workplace Health and Safety Officer to review and upgrade safety systems.

Obligation holders should consider the requirements of Section 27A of theWorkplace Health and Safety Act 1995 which outlines obligations relating to risk management. The company should also consider the requirements of the Plant Code of Practice 2005, in particular part 1.1 Risk management for design of plant, part 5.4 Operation and part 5.16 Modification, part 5.22 Instruction, Training and Supervising Workers.

Court result:

The company was fined $22,500 with no conviction recorded.

• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007