W.H. Heck & Sons Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 18 November 2009 a 23 year old worker sustained injuries when struck in the face by shattering glass.

W.H. Heck & Sons Pty Ltd conducted a sugar milling operation at Woongoolba. It employed a large workforce including the injured worker.

The defendant held obligations under s.28(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 being a person on whom a workplace health and safety obligation was imposed.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• two workers were making a testing bench, for testing pressure equipment used in sugar milling
• the injured worker sourced a number of used pressure gauges that were stored at the workplace
• the injured worker connected a pressure air hose to a gauge to check if the gauge needle operated
• the glass face of the gauge exploded and glass struck the worker's left eye
• the injured worker required surgical procedures including a corneal transplant
• the defendant had not conducted a risk assessment for the task being undertaken by the worker and did not have adequate controls in place to address risks from testing gauges with high pressure equipment
• the injured worker was not wearing personal protective equipment (PPE); the defendant had a formal procedure in place for workers to wear eye PPE only in relation to grinding works.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Beenleigh Industrial Magistrates Court on 3 June 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 Trevor Arnold fined the defendant $40 000 and ordered investigation and court costs totalling $1596.40.

In reaching a decision, Industrial Magistrate Arnold acknowledged the defendant failed to ensure the health and safety of its worker.

In deciding penalty, Industrial Magistrate Arnold took into account the serious injuries sustained by the worker, the obligation holder had not been prosecuted previously for any workplace health and safety breach, co-operated with the investigation and entered an early plea of guilty.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the agricultural industry and working around plant where there is exposure to risks from flying projectiles, 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 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 flying projectiles, obligation holders should consider all aspects of the task including the risks associated with the use of high pressure equipment and the need for specific PPE such as safety glasses or face shields.

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

• managing risk
• employer training options
• training staff
• Plant Code of Practice 2005
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.