Paul Clement Tapper

Incident description:

On 1 February 2009, a 30 year old male worker sustained serious injuries when he was struck by a cable from a collapsing crane and tilt-up panel.

The court acknowledged Paul Clement Tapper conducted an undertaking of project management and was engaged to construct a building extension. The court accepted Mr Tapper had engaged a number of subcontract workers to undertake this work, which was to be primarily via tilt-up panel construction.

The court found the defendant held obligations under s. 30C of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 being a project manager for construction work.

The worker was injured, and several vehicles damaged, when a crane lifting a concrete tilt-up panel (weighing approximately 38 tonne) collapsed.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed the:

• defendant had an on-site supervisor present during the panel erection
• supervisor did not intervene to stop the panel erectors, crane company and crane operator when they deviated from the panel erection plan
• supervisor did not intervene when the crane operator (with other subcontractors present) made a makeshift ramp to permit access for the crane during the course of lifting and placing one of the panels
• crane collapsed due to the method of lifting the concrete tilt-up panel
• most likely cause of the collapse was the load stresses placed on the crane boom during lifting and travelling up the makeshift ramp.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Richlands Industrial Magistrates Court on 12 July 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 Phillip Austin fined the defendant $7000 as well as ordering investigation, professional and court costs totalling $2000.

In reaching a decision the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to properly manage work to ensure the tilt-up panels were erected in accordance with design drawings.

In deciding the penalty imposed the court 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 falling concrete tilt-up panels, 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 erecting tilt-up panels, obligation holders should ensure:

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

Control measures that may be considered include:

• strictly adhering to the engineer's specifications for how the panels should be safely erected
• ensuring the crane has adequate capacity (if tilt-up, add lean distance to radius)
• completing a lift plan – includes site plan and lifting locations
• checking the ground condition and slope (no more than one degree for 'pick-and-carry' cranes – cranes on outriggers adequate packing under pads – no penetrations or covered pits in area)
• ensuring the crane safety features are operational (load indicator, anti two-block, boom angle indicator, hook safety catch)
• ensuring the crane maintenance logbook is complete and up to date.

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

• Managing risk
• Employer training options
• Training staff
• Lifting inserts for tilt-up and pre-cast concrete construction
• Tilt-up and Pre-cast Construction Industry Code of Practice 2003
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007 (PDF, 183 kB)
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.