Two Adelaide contractors have been fined a total of more than $60,000 in the Industrial Court last week over an incident in which a young man suffered severe and permanent injuries.
Mark Anthony Goodman trading as Goodman Plumbing and Property Maintenance, and Peter Gregory Watson trading as Aberfoyle Excavations had both pleaded guilty to breaches of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986 in failing to ensure that an employee was safe from injury at work.
SafeWork SA prosecuted both parties after investigating an incident at a Largs North property in December 2006. Mr Goodman was a master plumber who employed the young man. Mr Watson operated an excavator used in earthworks at the time.
Work was underway to dig a trench in the driveway of a home to connect a pipe to an existing sewer line. The trench was dug into clean sand to a depth of 1.6 metres, and the 21 year old plumber employed by Mr Goodman was sent into the trench in a belated bid to shore it (or reinforce the sides) with some plasterboard left over from some previous work.
Whilst inside the trench, the sand walls collapsed on the young man, partially burying him. However he was also struck on the head by a brick fence pillar, which fell into the trench. The impact of this contact then resulted in the worker suffering further injury when his head was forced against the top of a crowbar. He was not wearing a hardhat, nor had he been supplied with one.
Shortcomings in safety measures therefore included:
• No risk assessment of the dangers of working in a deep trench by either party
• No safe work methods for such a task
• No arrangements to ensure the trench was stable
• No information, training, instruction or supervision specific to working in trenches
Mr Goodman, as the employer was fined $32,000 for failing to keep his employee safe, while Mr Watson as the excavator operator was fined $34,000 for his failure to ensure that a person other than an employee was safe at a workplace under his control.
SafeWork SA Executive Director, Michele Patterson, says the case highlights two common issues in trying to keep workplaces safe.
1. Young and inexperienced workers need the utmost information, training, instruction and supervision.
2. There are dangers posed during work involving trenches and alongside heavy machinery. The hazards and risks in this type of work are many, and they must always be identified and controlled before work begins.
EQAS can assist in further development of OHS Management Systems to ensure the risk of workplace incidents is minimised.
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