Premier Auctions Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 27 June 2008 a worker was exposed to risk presented by the hazards of working at height on plant, namely a ladder, and the system of work for the use of the ladder.

The court acknowledged Premier Auctions Pty. Ltd. employed four people as part of its business as auctioneers and valuers.

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 a worker was removing signage from auctioned premises. While there were differing versions between the injured worker and a manager of the defendant company about the scope of work, including the removal of signage, the worker considered that it was his task to clean the site. He was instructed that he was not to clean up the site or remove signage from walls. The worker elected to locate a ladder at the site and take the signs down. The ladder was not owned by the defendant and there was no manager on site at the time. The ladder did not have feet fitted, which is in contravention of AS/NZ 1892.1:1996. The injured worker leaned the ladder against a wall and then climbed it to remove a sign positioned at a height of about 4.2 metres. While attempting to remove the signage, the base of the ladder slipped away and he fell to the floor with the ladder.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• the defendant failed to implement adequate control measures to properly manage the risk presented by the hazard
• the defendant failed to adequately supervise the work being undertaken by the worker.

Although the worker fell and sustained some injury, in the circumstances while there was sufficient evidence to prove a breach of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, the evidence would not support a finding the defendant company was the cause of the worker's injury.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Industrial Magistrates Court on 7 September 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 Ms Jacqueline Payne fined the defendant $15 000 as well as ordering investigation and court costs totaling $1065.40.

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

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the hospitality, recreation and other services industry where there is exposure to risks from falling from heights, 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 risk of falling from height, obligation holders should ensure that such tasks are undertaken by suitably qualified and experienced workers. Obligation holders should consider implementing induction and periodic training programs to ensure workers are aware of their responsibilities within their workplace. Training records and procedures should also be documented and retained for future reference. Workers should also be encouraged to follow safe work practices and report to their supervisors, any hazards that they may be identified to ensure they are addressed and fixed as soon as practicable.

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

• Health and safety information for hospitality, recreation and other services
• Training staff
• Manual tasks
• Sprains and Strains Prevention Guide (PDF, 539 kB)
• Guide for preventing slips, trips and falls
• An employer's guide to the Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2010 (PDF, 375 kB)
• Working at heights
• Ladders, trestles and scaffolding
• First aid
• Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2010
• Plant Code of Practice 2005
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.