CEC Constructions Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 23 November 2007 a 58 year old male was killed when a piece of a large rock crushed the cabin of his excavator.

CEC Constructions Pty Ltd employed the worker to operate the excavator to conduct earthworks at a construction workplace.

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

An overview of the facts include:

• the male worker was instructed via two-way radio to remove a large rock positioned on a steep incline using his excavator
• the worker was instructed to dig a hole under the rock and excavate it out of its location and into the hole from a position above the rock.
• the worker positioned the excavator below and to the side of the rock to remove and slide the rock down the slope
• while performing this task, a portion of the rock weighing approximately 250 tonnes broke away and rolled onto the cabin of the excavator, crushing the worker.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed that:

• the task of removing such a large rock was not adequately assessed, given previous attempts had failed to remove it
• the rock was located on a steep incline
• there was no direct supervision
• inadequate instructions were provided to ensure the correct positioning of the excavator for the rock to be removed safely.

Court result:

The defendant failed to appear at the hearing of this matter in the Cairns Industrial Magistrates Court on 8 August 2011. The court heard the matter ex-parte, and accepted the evidence of the prosecution. The defendant was found guilty and sentenced with no conviction recorded.

Industrial Magistrate Ms Jane Bentley ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $80 000 with no court or professional costs.

In reaching a decision, the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to provide adequate instruction and supervision to remove the rock in a safe manner after previous attempts to remove it had failed.

In deciding the penalty imposed, Industrial Magistrate Bentley took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any other workplace health and safety breaches, cooperated with the investigation and was otherwise a good corporate citizen.

Considerations for prevention:

(Commentary under this heading is not part of the Court's decision.)

A formal risk assessment designating an exclusion zone for both plant and personnel, in conjunction with specific and detailed instructions, and direct supervision for a task of this nature would have eliminated the risk of plant or personnel being placed at risk. The previous attempts to remove this rock may have destabilised and/or fractured the rock and this should have been taken into consideration.

When deciding on and implementing appropriate control measures associated with the risk of falling objects, obligation holders should ensure a detailed assessment of the potential risks is conducted and need to consider and implement higher order controls, such as a marked and/or designated exclusion zones.

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

• health and safety information for construction
• Building and construction guide (Orange book) (PDF, 433 kB)
• excavations and trenches
• managing risk
• Guidelines for working around trucks - loading and unloading (PDF, 226 kB)
• employer training options
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.