Daniel Warwick

Incident description:

On 21 January 2009 a 71 year old member of the public sustained injuries when he drove his mobility scooter into an open and unprotected pit, in which construction work was being performed.

The court acknowledged that the defendant, Mr Daniel Warwick, was an executive officer of DC Warwick Electrical Pty Ltd.

The court found the defendant held obligations under s.167(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 ( the Act), being an executive officer of a corporation must ensure that the corporation complies with the Act.

The company was undertaking physical aspects of closed-circuit television CCTV upgrade and cabling work at Oxley rail station. A square pit was left uncovered. The pit was marked with witches hats on all four sides, but was not barricaded, surrounded by an apron or signed as a hazard. The platform was not closed to passengers.

Investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• The company identified the hazard posed by the uncovered penetration and assessed that it represented a risk of injury. It placed witches hats on all four sides of the uncovered penetration.
• The company adopted a control measure that was inadequate to prevent or minimise the risk of injury.
• The company did not have documented systems in place for the management of its workplace health and safety obligations, but relied upon the documented systems of the company that contracted it.
• These procedures did not address the management of uncovered penetrations or pits. The procedures were otherwise quite comprehensive.
• The company was aware passengers and commuters would not uncommonly ignore the directions of Queensland Rail staff to stay away from the uncovered pit or platform generally.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Industrial Magistrates Court on 20 August 2010 to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to meet his workplace health and safety obligations and was sentenced with no conviction recorded.

Industrial Magistrate Mr Graham Lee ordered the defendant be placed under a two year good behaviour bond with surety in the sum of $7000.

In reaching a decision the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to ensure that the company of which he was a director, namely DC Warwick Electrical Pty Ltd, complied with the Act.

In deciding the penalty imposed, Industrial Magistrate Lee 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:

When working in the construction industry where there is exposure to risks from members of the public falling into open and unprotected voids and manholes, 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 control measures associated with the risk of falling down through open voids, obligation holders should consider erecting suitable barricading/fencing or adopting other measures that would prevent members of the public from inadvertently falling down into open work pits.

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

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