Peter John Gisinger

Incident description:

On 5 July 2007 a 22 year old worker sustained injuries when his hand was crushed in a concrete pump hopper during cleaning operations.

The court acknowledged Peter John Gisinger was an executive officer of TLTT Pty Ltd which owned the concrete trailer pump and employed the injured worker as a concrete pump operator.

The defendant held obligations under s.167 of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995. Being an executive officer of a corporation he failed to ensure the corporation complied with the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.

The injured worker was cleaning the pump of excess concrete and had placed his hand inside the hopper pump outlet whilst the pump was still energised. The pump swing-arm mechanism operated and the swing-arm caught and crushed the workers hand.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• The company owned the pump.
• The worker was experienced in operating the pump.
• The worker had been trained and instructed on the pump's operating manual and work procedures.
• The worker knew he should not put his hands inside the hopper or inside the pump outlet tubing.
• The worker became aware the hopper grate (designed to prevent access to the swing-arm whilst the pump was energised) could be lifted if the interlock was only partially opened. This permitted access to the hopper area and moving parts.
• The company was unaware of the ability to access the hopper whilst the pump was still energised.
• The company conducted some on-the-spot checking of the operator's using the pump.
• The controls implemented were administrative in nature.
• No engineering controls had been contemplated.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded not guilty in the Southport Industrial Magistrates Court on 12 December 2008 to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to meet his workplace health and safety obligations.

The matter went to trial on 11, 12, 13 May 2009 resulting in the defendant being found guilty of breaching s.167 of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 with no conviction recorded.

On 16 October 2009 Industrial Magistrate Kucks ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $5000 as well as investigation, professional and court costs totalling $1983.26.

In reaching a decision the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to ensure the company complied with the Workplace Health and Safety act 1995.

In deciding the penalty imposed Industrial Magistrate Kucks took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any workplace health and safety breach and cooperated with the investigation.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the construction industry where there is exposure to risks from plant with moving parts, 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 on and implementing appropriate control measures associated with risk associated with the exposure to risk from plant with moving parts, obligation holders should ensure that such tasks are undertaken by suitably trained, qualified and experienced workers.

Workers should avoid placing any part of their body within a hopper. Control measures should be considered when working with or near a concrete hopper and pumping device with exposed or moving parts include:

• A physical barrier to prevent a person contacting moving parts in a hopper should be fitted and maintained at all times during operation.
• Where cleaning or dislodgement of material requires a worker to enter the hopper, the equipment should be shut down and any accumulated hydraulic or air pressures exhausted that may allow the elements to move or rotate, even with the engine stopped.
• Cleaning should only be done when there is another person in the immediate vicinity to provide assistance if required.
• Workers should receive adequate instruction, training and where required supervision, in cleaning a concrete hopper.

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

• Building and construction industry
• Health and safety information for construction
• Concrete pumping safety 
• Managing risk
• Employer training options
• Training staff
• Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2005
• Plant Code of Practice 2005
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.