Company fined $72,000 over fatal fall
Issue Date: - Thursday, 23 July 2009
A Kwinana Beach fertiliser company has been fined $72,000 after a worker fell from an overhead walkway and died.
Interpact Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a working environment where labour hire workers were not, so far as was practicable, exposed to a hazard that was within the company's control.
A labour hire employee, Mr John James Banks, fell some 13 metres to the ground from an overhead walkway at the workplace. Mr Banks died from his injuries.
The flooring panels of the walkway that Mr Banks was standing on had not been secured to the walkway by anything other than their own weight. In one case a hole had been covered by a wooden plank.
The Rockingham Magistrate's Court was told that on 24 January last year, Mr Banks was working at Interpact in Office Road, assisting with the transfer of fertiliser from trucks to concrete storage bays. He had been instructed to monitor the work from the walkway.
At one point, Mr Banks could not be contacted on his two-way radio. Another employee sent to investigate found a grid mesh panel missing from the walkway. Mr Banks was lying on the ground on top of the missing mesh panel.
WorkSafe told the Court that Interpact should have ensured the flooring of the overhead walkway was properly maintained before permitting workers to access that area; and/or ensured that when permitting access to the overhead walkway an alternate fall arrest system was provided to workers; and/or ensured that workers were not permitted to access this overhead walkway until it was put in a proper state of repair.
Following Mr Banks' death, Interpact bought purpose designed clips to secure the grid mesh to the walkway, at a cost of about $5000. This work was performed by Interpact's own workers.
WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today it was a tragedy that a person had died as a result of the company's negligence.
"Anyone who has control of a workplace needs to take every care when considering the safety and wellbeing of their workers."
Mr Banks had been given a general safety induction by his employer, a labour hire firm, and a site specific induction by Interpact.