On 25 September 2024, a small business that fabricated and supplied stone benchtops to the building industry was sentenced in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court for breaching section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (‘the Act’), having failed to comply with its primary health and safety duty pursuant to section 19(1) of the Act.

The defendant’s production process involved loading stone slabs onto ‘A-frame’ fabrication trolleys for polishing once they had been cut and moved through conveyor belts. Running through the middle of the workshop was a drainage grate and, to transport to the polishing machinery, the stone slabs would be moved across the grate.

There was a risk that materials would fall from the fabrication trolleys onto workers.

On 26 January 2022, two workers loaded one of the fabrication trolleys with nine stone benchtops which weighed approximately 720kg to 850kg which was to be moved the following day.

On 27 January 2022, three workers were moving the trolley when it became stuck in the drainage grate and tipped. The nine stone benchtops fell from the trolley onto two of the workers, pinning the foot of one and the ankle of another.

Both workers were taken to hospital once they were freed. One of the workers suffered a fractured foot which was treated with a moonboot and buddy strap. The other worker suffered several fractures to his ankle which required multiple surgeries with ongoing complications.

The defendant’s failures included failing to:

1. Ensure a documented safe system of work for the use of the fabrication trolley which:
   1. Required the trolley to have a certified safe working load or load rating;
   2. Secured the materials to the trolley when loaded;
   3. Implemented a system of regular inspection and maintenance of the trolley; and
   4. Provided a trolley movement plan for the Workplace addressing the movement of the trolley throughout the site.
2. Provide training instruction and supervision to ensure workers complied with the documented safe system of work for the use of the trolley.

In sentencing, Magistrate Duroux took into account the defendant’s early plea of guilty, cooperation, good corporate citizenship, lack of prior convictions, and the remorse expressed in writing by the company director.

His Honour noted that the risks were foreseeable and explained that the workers were not responsible in any way. He concluded that the impact on the two injured workers was significant and observed the objects of the Work Health and Safety Act, as well as the specific sentencing principles for WHS prosecutions. The seriousness of the offending was also coloured by the workers being very young, although not juvenile.

The gravity of the offending was considered to primarily be failures in training, although there were other less significant failures which were taken into account. The precise cause of the trolley tipping was not known and it was not known whether the trolley was, in fact, overloaded.

His Honour referred specifically to the principles set out in Steward v Mac Plant Pty Ltd and Mac Farms Pty Ltd [2018] QDC 20. He considered that the control measures particularized were available but not implemented and that they were simple, well-known measures.

In light of these factors, his Honour convicted the defendant (without recording a conviction), ordered a fine of $50,000 and costs in the total amount of $1,601.40 comprising $1500 in professional costs, $101.40 court. Payment was referred to SPER.

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