Moody's XL Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 26 June 2009, a 62 year old carpenter sustained injuries to his spine and right knee after a an overloaded 'Manitou' material handler, dropped its load, striking the worker and causing him to fall 2.7 metres from a bond beam he was working from. The injuries sustained by the worker in this incident resulted in his vertebrae being fused and a knee reconstruction.

The court acknowledged Moody's XL Pty Ltd failed in its obligation to ensure the operator of the plant operated it in accordance with load charts and instructions. It exposed workers to the risk of injury from falls from heights by allowing them to work from the bond beam.

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

The defendant allowed the plant to be operated in a manner contrary to the Plant Code of Practice 2005. The sole aid in safe operation by the mobile plant operator was the load indicating device. The load indicating device operated correctly in test mode, but was later shown to have failed when under load.

The investigation findings presented revealed the defendant:

• relied solely on the load indicator to operate the lifting mechanism on the plant, rather than using the load indicator as an aid in the use of the crane's load chart and operating instructions
• allowed workers to work from the top of the bond beam.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Cairns Industrial Magistrates Court on 11 May 2010 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 Alan Comans ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $30 000 as well as investigation costs of $4000, legal costs of $750 and filing fee of $65.40. The defendant was allowed two years in which to make payment.

In reaching a decision the Industrial Magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to operate the plant correctly.

In deciding the penalty imposed, Industrial Magistrate Comans 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. The defendant was sentenced with no conviction recorded.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the construction industry where there is exposure to the risk of falling from heights or unstable loads being lifted into position by plant, obligation holders should apply a risk management approach to ensure the selection of suitable control measures.

Risk management involves identifying the hazards, 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 injury from falling from heights or unstable loads being lifted into position by plant, obligation holders should ensure that:

• such tasks are undertaken by suitably qualified and experienced workers
• a construction safety plan and work method statements completed and communicated to all applicable workers
• a risk assessment of the specific task has been completed, documented and evaluated.

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

Control measures that may be considered when exposed to the risk of falling from heights or unstable loads being lifted into position by plant may include:

• falling from height:
  • edge protection systems erected and used in accordance with the instructions of the manufacturer and designed to withstand a force which may reasonably be expected to fall against it
  • a travel restraint system or a personal fall prevention device which should have an anchorage point with a capacity to withstand any load that could be exerted on it in its normal operation, not allowing a free fall either from an edge or through the work surface
  • a fall arrest system consisting of harnesses or ladder belts attached by lanyards to a suitable anchor point
  • industrial safety net made of material designed to minimise injury to a person falling into the net and be installed that a person falling into the net will not hit anything below the net
  • a scaffold system installed by and inspected by a competent person.
• mobile plant operation and load safety
• establishing and communicating a set plan prior to completing each task
• ensuring plant operators are licensed and competent in the specific task
• ensuring load does not exceed mobile plant lift limits
• making sure load is secured correctly and safely prior to moving or lifting
• enforcing exclusion zones for workers and pedestrian near mobile plant prior to starting and/or during operation of plant
• appointing a marshaller or spotter if operators line of sight is obscured
• identifying clear hand signals or voice commands to establish if task is completed prior to moving plant
• using chocks to prevent inadvertent movement of plant (i.e forward or reverse), if working close to plant is unavoidable
• establishing a plant maintenance program in accordance with manufacturers instructions.

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

• health and safety information for construction
• building and construction
• Building and construction guide (Orange book) (PDF, 432 kB)
• managing risk
• construction safety plans and method statements
• controlling falling risks while working on roof framing in the domestic construction industry
• obligations for guard rail systems
• working at heights
• ladders, trestles and scaffolding
• guidelines for working around trucks - loading and unloading (PDF, 226 kB)
• forklift trucks
• construction industry inductions
• General safety induction training fact sheet
• young workers
• Plant Code of Practice 2005
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.