Company fined $40,000 after falling gate traps worker

The company pleaded guilty in the Moorabbin Magistrates' Court on Wednesday 3 April to one charge of failing to ensure people other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks. It was fined without conviction and ordered to pay $4132 in costs.

The court heard the company had been engaged to modify the site's entrance gates in June 2022. Two days after the work was finished, a traffic control worker was pulling a gate closed when it came off its track and fell on her.

The worker screamed for help before being pulled to safety and taken to hospital. She suffered a dislocated and broken ankle, bruising and other minor injuries.

WorkSafe's investigation found that a steel stopper at the top of the gate had been removed during the modifications and had not been replaced. The stopper was designed to prevent the gate from extending beyond the steel support hurdles.

It was reasonably practicable for Build Tech Hoardings to maintain a safe system of work that included developing and using a gate inspection checklist. The company should also have ensured a qualified engineer inspected the gate before it returned to use, as outlined in its Safe Work Method Statement.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Narelle Beer said the failures had exposed the worker to a preventable and traumatic experience. "A worker has been left with painful physical injuries in an incident that could have had a far more tragic outcome," Dr Beer said.

"This case highlights why it is vital for employers to not only have a Safe Work Method Statement in place for high risk construction work, but to ensure all work is carried out in accordance with that SWMS."

How Blue Safe can help: Our free SWMS tool can help you document hazards and controls for high risk construction work. Preparing a SWMS is only part of the task—the work also needs to follow it. Create a free SWMS