Cotton On Group Services Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 27 January 2010 an 18 year old male worker sustained multiple lacerations to both forearms when a glass door jammed and broke.

The court acknowledged Cotton On Group Services Pty Ltd:

• entered an early plea of guilty
• cooperated with Workplace Health and Safety Queensland
• was a good corporate citizen
• was remorseful and assisted the injured worker after the incident
• took remedial action, including training, and spent additional funds on a review of it's systems

The court found the defendant held obligations under s.28(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 being an employer.

The defendant operated a retail store where workers were required to open and close a five-panel glass folding door as a daily task. The track of the door was damaged, which caused the door to jam and on this occasion the glass to break. There was a similar incident in 2009 which also injured a worker.

The investigation findings presented to the court alleged:

• the defendant had been notified of the issue (the door jamming) by employees
• the regional manager was notified of the earlier incident and notified the head office in Victoria
• workers had raised concerns regarding the problems with the door and the system for operating it with the store manager
• no risk assessment or control measures had been put in place
• although aware of the potential risk, the defendant failed to ensure the safety of workers by implementing a safe system of work.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Noosa Industrial Magistrates Court on 15 December 2010 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 no conviction recorded.

Industrial Magistrate Mr Cliff Taylor fined the defendant $25 000 and ordered investigations costs of $1834.76.

In reaching a decision the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to ensure the safety of its workers.

In deciding the penalty imposed Industrial Magistrate Taylor took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any workplace health and safety breach, cooperated with the investigation and entered an early plea of guilty.

Considerations for prevention:

(Commentary under this heading is not part of the Court's decision.)

Employers (and others) controlling any business or undertaking should respond to safety concerns raised by staff. This should be a necessary part of any occupational health and safety consultation process.

Risk management involves:

• identifying the hazards
• evaluating the consequences and likelihood of harm that may result from the hazard
• deciding 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 and implementing control measures, obligation holders should consider routine maintenance of plant, fittings and fixtures within the workplace.

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

• Health and safety information for sales and shop assistant
• Retail and wholesale
• Managing risk
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.