Marshall Government rejects Coroner’s safety recommendations after RAH worker’s death

The Marhsall Government has rejected new safety upgrades after the death of a worker building the new RAH as the Treasurer is accused of taking a swipe at the State Coroner.

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Key recommendations made by the State Coroner to improve scissor lift safety in the wake of a workplace death at the RAH have been rejected by the State Government.

The move has infuriated the widow of 54-year-old Jorge Castillo-Riffo, who was killed when he was crushed while working in a scissor lift at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital during its construction in 2014.

Pam Gurner-Hall says at least six people have died in the same way as her partner since his death and has questioned how many more needed to perish before potentially lifesaving action would be taken.

Treasurer Rob Lucas has also been accused of taking a swipe at State Coroner Mark Johns after suggesting in state parliament that Mr Johns was not an expert and the Government would not be implementing two key recommendations.

Mr Johns made six recommendations when he handed down his findings into Mr Castillo-Riffo’s death in November last year.

Among them, he recommended a national standardisation of scissor lift controls be implemented and that the Government pursue this via the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

During the inquest into Mr Castillo-Riffo’s death, the court heard scissor lift manufacturers had varying sets of controls in their machines, meaning a certain operating action in one machine could have a different result in another.

Mr Johns also recommended that until control configurations were standardised “scissor lifts not be operated unless there is a person on the ground operating as a spotter who is available at all times to take steps to activate the emergency lowering mechanism should that be required”.

Jorge Castillo-Riff0. Picture: Supplied by family

Mr Lucas told The Advertiser the Government would not be pursing the standardisation of scissor lift controls or enforcing the spotter rule in Mr Johns’ recommended form.

Instead, he said the Government was considering a variation of the proposed spotter rule in which a person would need to keep watch under certain circumstances.

“We’re still working on how that would be (implemented),” he told The Advertiser.

“It certainly won’t be implemented at all times.”

Mr Lucas told parliament there were “very significant issues” associated with trying to standardise scissor lift controls, including how to decide which type of control to use, and the fact this would favour certain manufacturers and disadvantage others and users of their machines.

“If the intent of the Coroner’s recommendation is that all other current work platforms on dozens, if not hundreds, of work sites in South Australia would be banned from use until they are actually replaced, then clearly the implications of that would be very significant in terms of … the construction industry,” he said.

Mr Lucas said the “Coroner provides advice, he has an opinion, (and) ultimately the Government needs to make a judgment in terms of what, if anything, might be implemented in relation to his recommendations”.

“(Mr Johns) has been there for quite some time and is certainly, I am sure, well-informed on a whole variety of issues but I am sure even he would not claim to be an expert on everything,” he said.

South Australian Treasurer Rob Lucas. Picture: AAP Image/Kelly Barnes

“It is impossible for any person, as intelligent as a Coroner might be, to be an expert and therefore to make a judgment on every issue which ultimately is both practical and also is right in terms of its implementation and the consequences of such implementation.”

Ms Gurner-Hall was angry the recommendations had been dismissed.

“There have been six deaths since Jorge was killed in 2014, in exactly the same way (and) I’ve only got the statistics until December 2017,” she said.

“In another other kind of machine, if six people had died in four years, there would have been an outcry.

“While they continue to do nothing, people are dying.”

Father of two Steve Wyatt, 63, was also killed when he was crushed while using a scissor lift during construction of the RAH in 2016.

Ms Gurner-Hall acknowledged standardising controls would be complicated but said it was not impossible.

Pamela Gurner-Hall. Picture: Calum Robertson

She was also “ropeable” the spotter rule would not be introduced as recommended.

“(Bring) on industrial manslaughter (laws) I say, because if there was a strong enough penalty then (companies) would want to do something about it before (there’s a) death,” she said.

Mr Lucas’ comments in parliament came after SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo questioned him about what action the Government had taken in response to the Coroner’s recommendations.

Mr Pangallo took issue with his remarks about Mr Johns.

“Can I just say that the Treasurer’s swipe at the Coroner and his office is really quite disingenuous,” he said.

Mr Lucas denied the accusation, saying as a Minister he didn’t just accept “even a well-informed opinion from a Coroner as being something that I as Minister and the Government of the day automatically have to accept and implement”.