On 21 February 2025, a restoration company was sentenced in the Brisbane Magistrates Court for breaching section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (‘the Act’), having failed to comply with its primary health and safety duty.

On 14 August 2023 an incident occurred at a warehouse in Aspley. The workers from the defendant company were conducting cleaning works on the mezzanine level of a building. The edge of the mezzanine level was 3.2m from the ground below. A worker had his back to the edge, took a step backwards and fell to the concrete floor below. He was taken to hospital and treated for serious injuries, the most significant being paraplegia. 

The defendant’s failures were identified in three parts (1) they did not ensure that a risk assessment was done prior to work commencing (2) they did not ensure that a request was made for the installation of the edge protection, (3) they did not prohibit their workers from working on the mezzanine level until the appropriate controls were implemented.

The failures exposed not only the injured worker, but also three other workers from the defendant company to a risk of death or serious injury. 

The learned sentencing Magistrate noted the principle of general deterrence was relevant. The defendant had taken steps to address shortcomings and did not have a history prior to this incident. Her Honour accepted that the potential consequences were catastrophic and the injuries suffered demonstrated the potential for serious harm. The risks of a worker being killed or seriously injured was foreseeable. The risk could have been minimised or avoided if the procedures had been complied with. It was accepted that the injuries suffered were relevant in the sentence to be imposed. It was accepted that there were multiple individuals who were at risk on this particular occasion, but fortunately no other worker suffered injury. It was accepted that the defendant was not someone who had a flagrant disregard for their responsibilities; systems were in place to control the risk, but in this case those systems failed. 

Her Honour noted that the defendant was a good corporate citizen, the plea of guilty demonstrated remorse, and the defendant had taken steps since the incident to improve safety. Having regard to the defendant’s financial position, it was noted that there was some risk to the on-going viability of the company if a significant fine was imposed.

Her Honour fined the defendant $80,000, along with costs of $1,500 and $101.40 filing fee. The fine was referred to SPER. No conviction was recorded.

OWHSP contact: enquiries@owhsp.qld.gov.au