Inquest of RAH site worker Jorge Castillo-Riffo told of “failings” during SafeWork SA investigation
SAFEWORK SA investigators were “unavailable” to attend the RAH construction site on the day a worker was crushed in the vital “golden hour” of an investigation and police took most witness statements, a court has heard.
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SAFEWORK SA investigators were “unavailable” to attend the Royal Adelaide Hospital construction site on the day a worker was crushed, a court has heard.
An inquest into the death of construction worker Jorge Castillo-Riffo heard there were multiple “failings” during the SafeWork SA investigation.
Mr Castillo-Riffo, 54, was working alone on a scissor lift completing patchwork when he was crushed. He later died in hospital from his injuries.
The court heard the state’s work safety watchdog had no investigators available to attend the site — the largest construction site in the state at the time — on the crucial first day, instead sending three inspectors.
The court heard principles of the “golden hour” — the time immediately after an incident to stabilise, photograph and gather evidence from a scene — were not adhered to during the investigation.
It also heard the accident scene was not preserved, police took most statements, the scissor lift was removed from the site and taken into a storage facility. Blood was also cleared from the site.
Safework SA senior inspector Stacey Vinall, who was the fourth principal officer assigned to the investigation, told the court no-one had created an investigation plan as required by the safety watchdog.
“Some work had not been done that should have been done,” Ms Vinall said.
“I did have some concerns which came to my attention throughout my work.
“Some measurements, the release of the scene and the movement of the scissor lift off site, and it was curious to me in regards to the majority of statements being taken by SA Police.”
She also said some of the photographs were inadequate.
“It was very difficult in some of the photographs because of perspective to get a clear view of the scene,” she said.
When asked if it was “marked failure of the investigation” SafeWork did not take statements from relevant witnesses, Ms Vinall said she “wouldn’t call it a failure but I would question it”.
Outside court, Mr Castillo Riffos long-term partner Pam Gurner-Hall said she was “not surprised” to hear of the failings.
“I was mortified from day one that they removed the machine from the site before they had a chance to investigate it fully,” she said.
She was hopeful, but doubted the chances of a future prosecution after the court heard the matter was still a “live” issue.