Raynham Industries Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 19 December 2009 a 19 year old male worker sustained injuries when rolls of stored bulk glasswool insulation sheeting fell and struck him.

Raynham Industries Pty Ltd manufactured and supplied glasswool insulation products from it’s workplace at Archerfield. The defendant employed the injured person to perform general labouring duties, including retrieving bundles of bulk glasswool product stored in a warehouse.

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 investigation findings presented to the court alleged the workers, including the injured person, would routinely climb onto the bulk glasswool product to retrieve it when it was required for the manufacturing process. The court heard that the bulk product could be stored up to a height of eight metres.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• the bulk product was received and stored in large bundles
• the workers would climb the bundles to access the product either to store it, or retrieve it for the manufacturing process
• the defendant had not performed a risk assessment on the storage and retrieval of the bulk glasswool product
• the defendant relied on the workers to work out the best way to access the bulk product.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Holland Park Industrial Magistrates Court on 8 July 2011 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 Colin Strofield ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $35 000 as well as investigation, professional and court costs totalling $3101.50.

In reaching a decision, the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to identify the risk to workers when it required them to climb the bulk product, which was unstable.

In deciding the penalty imposed, Industrial Magistrate Strofield 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:

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

When working in the manufacturing industry where there is exposure to risks from falling objects and falls from heights, 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
• 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 falling objects and falls from height, obligation holders should consider secure storage methods such as the use of racking and not over-stacking products, and safe retrieval methods for products (e.g. use of mechanical aids such as forklifts or cranes).

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

• The manufacturing industry
• Working at heights
• Protection from falling objects
• Managing risk
• Employer training options
• Training staff
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.