Gold Coast City Council

Incident description:

On 12 April 2008, a 20 year old male sustained serious injuries when struck in the right eye with a nail whilst de-nailing a timber frame.

The court acknowledged Gold Coast City Council were conducting civil construction works in a tidal drain at Southport on 12 April 2008. It engaged a number of labour hire workers, including the injured worker.

The court found the defendant held obligations under s.28(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 being a person who conducts a business or undertaking.

The defendant developed systems to address workplace hazards, however these did not extend to the particular task the worker was undertaking, nor in the use of light hammers generally, within the workplace.

The investigation findings presented revealed the defendant:

• two workers were engaged in preparing timber boxing for a concrete pour
• the workers were de-nailing timber used in the boxing
• the injured person was removing a nail when it flicked up and struck him in the right eye
• the worker was not wearing eye protection, nor was this a requirement when undertaking this task
• despite medical intervention, the wound became infected and the worker had his eye surgically removed several days later.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Southport Industrial Magistrates Court on 30 April 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.

Industrial Magistrate Terry Duroux ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $10 000 as well as investigation, professional and court costs totaling $2566.70.

In deciding the penalty imposed Industrial Magistrate Duroux took into account the defendant had been prosecuted previously for another workplace health and safety breach. The defendant also entered an early plea of guilty after a legal point had been clarified through litigation in the Industrial Court of Queensland. No conviction was recorded.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the construction industry where there is exposure to risks from using or operating hand tools, 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 use of hand tools, obligation holders should ensure that:

• such tasks are either supervised or undertaken by suitably qualified and experienced workers
• a risk assessment of the task has been completed, documented and evaluated.

Once evaluated, obligation holders should implement control measures and training programs to ensure all workers are trained and fully aware of the risks and safe working practices in their workplace.

Control measures that should be considered when using or operating hand tools include:

• ensuring the appropriate personal protective equipment is worn for the specific task (e.g. safety glasses, safety helmet)
• following the manufacturers instructions on its intended use
• ensuring the correct tool is used for the job.

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

• health and safety information for construction
• managing risk
• personal protective equipment
• managing the safety of labour hire workers
• young workers
• Formwork Code of Practice 2006
• Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2010
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995
• Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008.