Company fined $250,000 for workplace fatality

A Queensland magistrate has fined a supplies company $250,000 for failing to provide a primary duty of care which resulted in a workers’ death.

The magistrate found that between the period of December 2021 and February 2023, the company failed to develop and implement a safe procedure for unloading steel mesh from containers at their business site. Further, the magistrate said the defendant should have trained and instructed its workers in relation to the procedure.

The magistrate noted the failure related to the defendant not developing the safe procedure for the unloading of steel mesh from containers which required the mesh to be removed by a mobile crane and with work to be undertaken by a suitably licensed and trained dogman or rigger to select and inspect slings and lifting equipment.

At the business site, the court heard that workers employed a forklift with a sling and metal chain attachment instead of using a mobile crane with a dogman on the ground directing the crane operator. The sling snapped which propelled an object into a workers’ head causing significant head injuries which resulted in their death.

The company plead guilty, with the magistrate noting the offending to be “objectively serious.” The court imposed a $250,000 fine and ordered the company to pay $1,601 in court costs. No conviction was recorded.

More information

Read more prosecutions at owhsp.qld.gov.au