Bradken Resources Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 3 October 2008 a 19 year old male trainee sustained injuries while operating an overhead gantry crane.

The court acknowledged Bradken Resources Pty Ltd was the employer of the injured worker.

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

The incident occurred while the injured worker was using a gantry crane to move moulding boxes. The load had been repositioned and was being rolled over when a chain sling detached and the load fell and landed on the injured worker’s right foot.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• the injured worker received various inductions at the workplace, as well as relevant training
• the defendant had systems and policies in place to cover workplace health and safety within the workplace, including a system to identify hazards and associated risks
• the defendant had not conducted a formal assessment of the risks associated with the particular task being performed.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Ipswich Industrial Magistrates Court on 5 October 2009 to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to meet its workplace health and safety obligations and was sentenced with a conviction recorded.

Industrial Magistrate Ms Virginia Sturgess fined the defendant $72 000 as well as investigation, professional and court costs totalling $2135.70.

In reaching a decision the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to undertake a risk assessment for the particular task being performed. The defendant failed to provide supervision and training to the injured worker in order to perform the task safely.

In deciding the penalty imposed, Industrial Magistrate Sturgess took into account the defendant had entered an early plea and cooperated with the investigation. She also took into consideration the defendant had committed $7 million to workplace health and safety over four workplaces with 5000 employees.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the manufacturing industry where there is exposure to risks from falling loads, 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
• monitoring the effectiveness of the control measures to ensure they remain working correctly.

When deciding on and implementing control measures associated with the risk of a load slipping or falling from gantry cranes, obligation holders should consider how to safely secure loads. Guidance may also be sought in the Plant Code of Practice 2005.

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

• Manufacturing
• Health and safety information for manufacturing
• Managing risk  
• Employer training options
• Training staff
• Plant Code of Practice 2005 
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.