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Prosecution Details

Defendant S.Sarich and Sons Pty Ltd
Regulation 3.88(1)(b)
Offence Date Between 19 August 2002 and 16 September 2002
Description of Breach(es)

Being an employer, failed to ensure that the casting of concrete tilt-up panels was done in accordance with Shop Drawings as required by AS3851; contrary to Regulation 3.88 of the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996.

Background Details

The defendant was engaged to provide labour and expertise to construct, among other things, concrete tilt-up panels at a construction site at the corner of Norma Road and Leach highway in Myaree. The relevant Australian Standard, AS3850.1, requires that tilt-up panels be constructed in accordance with shop drawings. Shop drawings are drawings or plans which set out the configuration of the panels as designed by an engineer.

On the dates alleged, the defendant was casting the panels as particularised in the particulars to the charge. In placing reinforcement steel rods in the formwork where the concrete was to be poured, the defendant failed to ensure that the quality and the placement of the reinforcement steel accorded with the shop drawings. As a result, the cast-in plates in particular were reduced in strength from the way they were designed to be. In addition, rather than using a 16mm reinforcement bar to go through the ferrules, the defendant used a 10mm mild steel bar, thus reducing the strength of the cast-in plates' connection to the rest of the panel. Further, rather than placing three 16mm reinforcement bars 30-40mm from the perimeter edge of the panels, the defendant placed only one 16mm reinforcement bar around the perimeter at 115mm from the edge. The above defects related to eleven panels cast at the site.

The defendant pleaded guilty.




Outcome Summary Guilty
Conviction Date 31 May 2004
Court Petty Sessions Perth
Fine $15,000.00
Costs $457.70
Charge Number PE 49376/04