All High Rise Scaffolding (NSW) Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 1 April 2009 a 34 year old worker sustained serious injuries when his arm was caught between a horizontal bar on a moving mast climber scaffold and an electric motor box.

The court acknowledged All High Rise Scaffolding (NSW) Pty Ltd engaged a number of employees, including the injured worker, to erect, maintain and dismantle a twin mast climber scaffold at the University of Queensland to facilitate building renovations.

The court found the defendant held obligations under s.28(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 being a person conducting a business or undertaking.

The incident occurred while two workers dismantled the twin mast climber. They removed the mast safety mesh guards to access bolts joining the mast sections. They intended to work from the top down taking components to the ground on the platform. To aid removal, both applied lubricant spray to connecting nuts.

The workers unloaded the removed mast caps and safety mesh guards. These were left on the ground and the workers travelled back up the scaffold. Two motors drive the platform up the masts, each with a cable and remote unit. A can of lubricant spray was sitting on the top of the box of one motor. The injured worker knocked the can with his elbow into the mast tower. As he went to grab the can, his arm caught between the top of the motor box and a horizontal bar of the mast tower.

The injured worker sustained a crush injury to his right arm resulting in compartment syndrome requiring four operations.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• The defendant had a documented workplace health and safety plan, risk assessment and work method instructions specifically for this project including a safe work method statement (SWMS).
• The SWMS stated ‘crushing’ as a potential hazard in the assembly and removal of the mast climber. The safety controls listed outlined the need to isolate the mast climber by engaging the emergency stop before working on the mast, and to stay clear of the mast while the climber is in motion.
• The injured worker received training in the erection and dismantling of mast climbers six or seven years ago from a leading hand.
• The director of the company instructed the workers to take down the mast climber the day prior, but the workers had no supervisor on site on the day.
• The injured worker was not shown any system of work for erection or dismantling twin mast climbers or the manufacturer’s manual.
• The manufacturer’s manual for the mast climber states that the mast guard mesh should be securely fixed before ‘operating’ the platform.
• ‘operation’ of the climber in the manufacturer’s manual did not include erection and dismantling, and allowing for guards to be removed during these stages.
• The workers removed the mesh guards from the mast climber intending to leave them off for the remainder of the dismantling process as was regular practice.
• The company inherited and adopted the risk assessment for this task from the previous owner of the plant, assessed this risk assessment as being satisfactory and did not undertake any risk assessment of its own. It relied on the manufacture’s procedure (guards removed) as being sufficient to ensure safety.
• It was not possible to erect or dismantle the mast climber when the safety cages were in place. Workers would be unable to reach over the safety cages to access the bolts.
• The assembly and dismantling of mast sections without mast guards fitted was to be managed by persons ‘staying clear of the mast while the mast climber was in motion’.
• The defendant had not sought any advice regarding higher order control measures such as engineering controls to manage exposure to the risk of injury from the hazard presented by the mast and the moving climber.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Industrial Magistrates Court on 22 December 2009 to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to meet its workplace health and safety obligations.

Industrial Magistrate Mr Graham Lee ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $35 000 as well as investigation and court costs totaling $5248.40.

In reaching a decision the Industrial Magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to identify or otherwise manage the exposure to risks presented by the hazard of unguarded entrapment points on plant, namely a twin mast climber on a mast tower when mast guard mesh is not in place in accordance with section 27A of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.

In deciding the penalty imposed Industrial Magistrate Lee took into account that the defendant had no previous convictions, had co-operated with the investigation and had entered an early plea of guilty in ordering no conviction be recorded.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the construction industry where there is exposure to risks from moving plant, obligation holders should apply a risk management approach to ensure the selection of suitable control measures.

Risk management involves evaluating the consequences and likelihood of harm that may result from the hazard, deciding on and implementing control measures to prevent or minimise the level of the risk from the hazard and monitoring the effectiveness of the control measures to ensure they remain working correctly.

When deciding and implementing control measures associated with the risk of entrapment, obligation holders should consider higher order engineering control measures such as interlocked guarding. Prior to work beginning, obligation holders must ensure that safety plans and work method statements are completed by the principal contractor, ensuring they are kept up to date and adhered to.

Visit the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland website for more information on:

• health and safety information for construction
• building and construction guide (orange book)
• construction safety plans and method statements
• modifying plant, machinery or equipment
• Plant Code of Practice 2005 (PDF, 656 kB)
• Scaffolding Code of Practice 2009
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.