On 18 July 2024,  a Sunshine Coast bus company was sentenced in the Maroochydore 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 company provided bus services on the Sunshine Coast operating a fleet of approximately 167 vehicles and employed approximately 183 workers. As part of the conduct of that business, diesel mechanics employed by the defendant would repair and maintain buses used.

On 21 April 2022, a 22-year old worker (Mr B) and a 25-year old (Mr P) were instructed to respond to a bus breakdown on Maroochydore Road. Mr P drove the response van to the initial breakdown site and Mr B arrived with a replacement bus for the driver to continue the original route.

Mr B was advised by the workshop foreman how to fix the broken-down bus and it was able to be restarted. Mr P then drove the bus, which was travelling at limited speeds to Nambour Connection Road and then parked the bus in the left shoulder of the road, beside the left lane of traffic with its hazard lights on. The signed speed limit for that road was 60km/hr.

Mr B and Mr P both stood beside the driver’s side of the bus, just inside the boundary line, and opened the cover of the control panel to investigate. As they were either standing or kneeling beside the bus, a person driving a BMW vehicle along the road, drifted over the dividing line and struck both workers. Both workers died from their injuries.

The driver of the BMW was criminally charged and convicted after trial of the offence of ‘dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance and sentenced to imprisonment.

In sentencing the defendant company, Acting Magistrate Smith considered the significant material placed before her. Her Honour accepted that the defendant had procedures in place for the workplace but that they were inadequate for workers attending breakdowns and repairs on the roadside, next to live traffic. The risk was high and the potential consequences of the risk were severe. Her Honour accepted it was a foreseeable risk to be struck by any passing vehicle, even one complying with the road rules, and the risk was increased where the workers weren’t provided with or adequately trained on responding to roadside breakdowns. Her Honour took into account the gravity of the consequences. The deaths of two young workers reflected the seriousness of the detriment of lacking in safety procedures at the time.

In mitigation, her Honour accepted the defendant was a good corporate citizen, the early plea of guilty, the defendant had no prior offending contrary to the Act, the assistance provided to the families of the deceased workers, and the post-incident steps taken, reducing the penalty that would have otherwise been imposed.

Her Honour considered the intervening acts of the adversely affected driver as the greatest contributor to the outcome. While she accepted it was a highly relevant factor, it did not detract from the defendant’s liability.

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