Powercrete Concrete Pumping (Qld) Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 10 November 2007 a worker was injured while hosing concrete out of a hopper on the rear of a concrete pumping truck near a construction site.

He positioned himself on a small platform at the rear of the vehicle adjacent to the top edge of the hopper and opened the hopper grate. He then cleaned the hopper from above by standing on the truck whilst leaning against the grate.

During this process he lost his balance, slipped and fell into the hopper coming into contact with the agitator and swing tube while the truck engine was running and the swing tube was in motion.

He sustained compound fractures to his right leg and compound fracture dislocations to his right ankle and foot that required surgery.

The investigation revealed the system of work for clearing, cleaning and removing concrete from the hopper was inadequate and that the company had failed to adequately assess the risk that may have resulted from this hazard.

As a result of the incident the defendant took steps to eliminate the risk to workers, including engaging a health and safety consultant to conduct relevant staff training, developing a system of on-site auditing, fitting mechanical devices to all machines that stop the internal components of the hopper from moving once the grate is lifted up and installing a padlock to prevent access to the hopper by workers.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Industrial Magistrates Court on 29 June 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 fined the defendant $30 000 as well as ordering investigation and court costs totalling $4065.40.

In deciding the penalty imposed the Industrial Magistrate Lee took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any workplace health and safety breaches, had cooperated with the investigation and entered an early plea of guilty when ordering no conviction be recorded.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the construction industry where there is exposure to risks from cleaning hoppers, 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 the cleaning of hoppers, obligation holders should ensure that such tasks are undertaken by suitably qualified and experienced workers.

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

• health and safety information for construction 
• building and construction industry 
• concrete pumping safety 
• training staff and using control measures to manage risks associated with workplace hazards
• Concrete Pumping Code of Practice 2005
• Plant Code of Practice 2005
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.