On 20 December 2024, a local government entity was sentenced in the Brisbane Magistrates Court for breaching section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (‘the Act’). The defendant pleaded guilty to failing to comply with its primary health and safety duty, thereby exposing workers to the risk of death or serious injury.

The defendant was a local council whose business or undertaking included the maintenance of local parks. It had no prior convictions for WHS offending. The defendant held a contract with a labour hire company for the supply of casual workers to carry out work, including park maintenance work.

On 11 October 2021 a number of council and labour hire workers were carrying out park maintenance work at Tom O’Neill Park in Oxley. The defendant hired a GreenMech CM220 nine-inch woodchipper from an equipment hire company for use by the workers on 11 October. When the workers arrived at the park the team leader responsible for the task provided a 15-minute verbal briefing on how to operate the woodchipper. The verbal instructions were followed by a manual demonstration of how to feed a tree into the woodchipper.

Later that morning, after feeding a tree branch into the woodchipper, a labour hire worker was standing and facing towards the woodchipper, approximately 5 metres from the infeed chute, when a piece of wood was ejected from the infeed chute and struck her in the face. The worker suffered injuries to her head and face, including chips to her front, top and bottom teeth, a fracture of her left orbital floor and roof, and deep lacerations to her left eyebrow region. The worker was taken by ambulance to the Princess Alexandra Hospital where she underwent surgery for the orbital fractures.

The defendant failed in its duty to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of workers was not put at risk from the work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking. The reasonably practicable control measures that the defendant could have implemented included ensuring that a traffic exclusion zone was clearly delineated around the woodchipper, ensuring that workers wore personal protective equipment, including face shields, safety glasses and ear protection, and training workers in the safe system of work. The failure to comply with its duty exposed individuals to a risk of death or serious injury.

The defendant entered a plea of guilty on 20 December 2024 and the matter proceeded to sentence.

In sentencing the defendant, Magistrate Pinder had regard to the maximum penalty for the offence and the purposes of the Act. His Honour took into account the injuries suffered by the worker.

His Honour noted that general deterrence was an important sentencing consideration for offences of this type and considered that specific deterrence was of less relevance in the circumstances of this matter.

His Honour had regard to the principles contained in section 9 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 as well as the principles set out in Nash v silver City Drilling (NSW) Pty Ltd; Attorney-General for New South Wales v Silver City Drilling (NSW) Pty Ltd [2017] NSWCCA 96. His Honour considered that the objective seriousness of the offending fell at the lower end of the scale and described the offending as the confluence of a number of relatively small failures and that the defendant was not blasé or ambivalent in its approach to safety.

Magistrate Pinder took into account the defendant’s timely plea of guilty as an indication of remorse and a willingness to facilitate the course of justice. His Honour had regard to the defendant’s lack of prior convictions, otherwise good character, cooperation with the investigation and remorse.

Having regard to all matters, as well as the comparable decisions referred to by the parties, Magistrate Pinder convicted and fined the defendant $75,000 and exercised his discretion not to record a conviction.

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