Prosecution Details

Failed to provide and maintain a working environment in which employees are not exposed to hazards.

On 18 October 1995 the fatally injured employee, was part of a demolition crew contracted to remove redundant equipment, obsolete plant and concrete footings.

Whilst removing an electrical cabinet, slung from an overhead gantry crane, the employee was trapped by the neck between the edge of the cabinet and the pulley of the overhead gantry crane, and died as a result of the injuries sustained.

The system of work followed by the (deceased) employee was not safe. It involved:

* inadequate supervision, in that the employee was an inexperienced demolition worker and his immediate supervisor's only experience began at the commencement of the contract.
* inadequate training - no planned or formal training was carried out, no employee of Statewide on the worksite was trained or held a certificate of competency as a rigger, which led to inappropriate slinging of the electrical cabinet.
* a flexible steel wire rope sling used was marked "condemned" due to its poor condition.

The Magistrate found that "there was such a hazard involved in the slinging and shifting of electrical cabinets on site that it was necessary for employees involved in that work to be both in themselves adequately trained in rigging work and supervised by a competent person."