Stevedoring company fined $40,000 over unsafe workplace
Issue Date: - Thursday, 6 March 2008
A stevedoring and cargo handling company has been fined $40,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace after an incident at Port Hedland in which a worker’s legs were seriously and permanently injured.
P & O Ports Limited pleaded guilty in the Perth Magistrates Court last week to failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace and, by that failure, causing serious injury to a worker.
In August 2004, P & O Ports was conducting stevedoring operations at the Port Hedland Wharf, and three employees were given the task of dismantling a large bar that had been left on the wharf after a ship had been unloaded.
The bar, which was 13m long and weighed more than two tonnes and was used to unload lengths of railway, had removable plates affixed at each end with shelves to hold the lengths of railway and wire rope slings attached along its length.
The workers elevated the bar on two stacks of wooden gluts and removed the plates from the ends, and while one of the men moved the plates to a storage area, the other two tied up the rope slings so they would not hang loose during transportation.
While the rope slings were being secured, the bar toppled and fell onto one of the workers’ legs. Another worker who was nearby used a forklift to lift the bar from the man’s legs.
He suffered serious fracture and crush injuries to both legs and has been left with a substantial permanent disability.
None of the three employees engaged in the task of removing the end plates from the bar had performed that task before, and none were given any instruction on how to perform the task or any warning of the risks involved.
WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today that the case was a graphic illustration of the importance of providing adequate training and instruction to workers.
“This case demonstrates how crucial it is to make sure that that employees are given adequate instruction on how to perform tasks, and of the potential risks associated with any work activity,” Ms Lyhne said.
“But equally important is the necessity for employers to establish and implement safe systems of work for any task that involves risk.
“P & O Ports did not have in place any written procedure for performing this potentially hazardous task, and no instructions were given to the workers on how the task should be performed.
“The employer would have substantially lowered the risk of injury if it had provided a purpose-built device such as a cradle in which the bar could securely rest while it was being dismantled and transported.
“The worker involved in this incident was seriously injured and has been left with a permanent disability, and this could have been avoided if some relatively simple measures had been taken by the employer.”
Further information on safe systems of work can be obtained by telephoning WorkSafe on 9327 8777 or on the website at www.worksafe.wa.gov.au.