TME Group Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 16 January 2009 a 39 year old male worker undertaking maintenance work during a mill shutdown, sustained serious injuries when a steel wear plate that was to be replaced inside the mill, dislodged above the worker and struck him on the leg.

The court acknowledged TME Group Pty Ltd conducted an undertaking of mine services, including relining of grinding mills, and employed the injured worker as a general labourer in the mill relining works team.

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

Investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• wear plates on the mills were secured by a bolt through the wall of the mill with a nut attached on the outside of the mill wall
• the defendant was aware the plates could be 'unsecured' from the milling process and developed a work process (with JSA) requiring a visual inspection of the outside of the mill wall to ensure all bolts had a nut
• evidence was equivocal as to whether an inspection was undertaken or, if so, its adequacy
• workers removed a number of nuts from the bolts securing the wear plates
• the mill was rotated and either too many plate nuts were removed or a plate originally had no nut (i.e. missed in the visual inspection) - in any event, an unsecured plate was above the worker inside the mill and it dislodged.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Wynnum Industrial Magistrates Court on 2 July 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 Zachary Sarra fined the defendant $40 000 and ordered it pay investigation, professional and court costs totalling $3074.10.

In reaching a decision the Industrial Magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to ensure proper checks of the plates, and take account that removing lower plates might cause higher unsecured plates to dislodge and fall.

In deciding the penalty imposed Industrial Magistrate Sarra took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any workplace health and safety breach, co-operated with the investigation and entered an early plea of guilty. His Honour also noted that the company was of exemplary corporate character.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the manufacturing industry where there is exposure to risks from falling objects, 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 falling objects, 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:

• implementing an induction and on going training program to ensure workers are aware of the risks and current safety procedures
• supplying and enforcing the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (e.g. helmets)
• assigning exclusion zones and/or restricting access to the area of risk
• installing containment screening.

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

• Health and safety information for manufacturing
• Personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Managing risk
• Employer training options
• Training staff
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.