Not safe for work: Every SafeWork SA prosecution finalised in 2022
Four deaths. Multiple amputations. Life changing injuries to young workers. See the workplaces fined by SA’s safety watchdog in a record breaking 2022.
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SafeWork SA prosecutors have netted more than $2.5m in fines in 2022 as they prosecuted 11 work places for breaches ranging from serious burns, degloving injuries and deaths.
Four of the prosecutions related to workplace deaths including the high profile West Adelaide footballer Lee Ravlich – once again raising questions around the introduction of industrial manslaughter charges.
The SA Employment Tribunal handed down $2,561,000 in fines in 2022 – more than in any other year to date.
In 2021 there were $1.587m in fines handed down for eight prosecutions while in 2020 there were two prosecutions which netted $60,000 in fines.
SafeWork SA acting executive director Dini Soulio said his investigators and inspectors had continued to hold unsafe workplaces to account.
“While no workplace death is acceptable, we will continue to be vigilant in pursuing serious breaches of the WHS Act,” he said.
“This commitment to our regulatory role helps provide justice for the families of those killed or injured and sends a strong message to employers that corner cutting and shoddy safety practices in the workplace will not go unpunished.”
In November 2022, the State Government unveiled their plan to introduce industrial manslaughter legislation as part of a wholesale overhaul of work health and safety laws.
The proposed legislation would have a maximum jail term of 20 years and a fine of $15m if an employers negligence or recklessness “substantially contributed to a death”.
Here are the South Australian individuals and businesses prosecuted in 2022.
F Laucke Pty Ltd also known as Laucke Mills
Convicted, fined $390,000 plus costs of $4310
Jack Daniel Hallett died on October 11, 2020 at the Laucke Mills in Daveyston when he was
crushed by a hydraulic door on a feed pellet press.
Despite previous risk assessments of the 30-year-old machine, the particular risk which led to Mr Hallett suffering fatal injuries had never been identified.
In a victim impact statement read to the court and cited in the published judgment, Mr Hallett’s partner said they did not want a future without him.
South Australian Employment Tribunal deputy president Judge Miles Crawley said Laucke Mills had spent $150,000 remedying security issues at the site admitted early that the risk from the open hatch had been missed.
Woodlands Hills Fabrication and Bartyn Dall
Both convicted, company not fined, director fined $28,000 and ordered to pay costs of $3245.
A worker had both of his lower limbs amputated in an industrial accident where director Bartyn Dall had engaged in a “systemic failure to engage in safety responsibilities”.
On October 22, 2018 the worker was lubricating a metal elevated platform which was being controlled by Mr Dall, a director of the company.
The platform was below a power line and electricity arced through the platform, causing serious injuries to the worker.
The platform was found to be in a poor state of repair.
The worker’s feet were left charred after the incident with full thickness burns to the lower part of his torso and legs.
The Tribunal heard that the company had been placed into administration and Mr Dall, an active member of his local community, had been left racked with guilt.
Tribunal deputy president Magistrate Stuart Cole did note the fine the company, noting it had no assets.
He noted that simple and inexpensive measures could have prevented the serious injuries.
Dial-a-tow Australia Pty Ltd and AHRNS Handling Equipment Pty Ltd
First defendant convicted, fined $600,000 and ordered to pay $11,859.50 in costs. Second defendant convicted, fined $350,000 and ordered to pay $4010 in costs
On March 14, 2018, Lee Ravlich was working for Dial-a-tow when he was crushed between a mechanical sliding tray and the cabin of a truck.
Mr Ravlich, a former talented football player for West Adelaide in the SANFL, had been working for the company for only eight days when he suffered the fatal injuries.
He had been returning tools and chains to a toolbox at the back of the cab following a call out to a Dry Creek business.
Another worker was using a remote control to move the tray back into position until he heard Mr Ravlich scream.
Multiple people came to his aid but Mr Ravlich died at the scene.
The tilt tray mechanism had been produced by AHRNS, who pleaded guilty early to breaching work, health and safety laws.
Dial-a-tow pleaded not guilty and took the matter to trial where it was found guilty.
Angus Roberts
Convicted, fined $35,000 and ordered to pay costs of $2805
On September 7, 2019 Mr Roberts was employed as a refrigeration mechanic and replacing a condenser in a food display unit in a Salisbury retail business.
He started receiving unexpected pressure readings and realised he had used the wrong gas in the condenser.
While attempting to remove the gas, it ignited, seriously burning both Mr Roberts and the store owner.
Mr Roberts pleaded guilty to two work, health and safety breaches and told the tribunal he accepted he should have clearly marked the containers he was using so he didn’t use the wrong gas.
The business owner was in hospital for two weeks recovering from his burns and his business lost significant income.
Infuse Bottling Company Pty Ltd
Convicted, fined $120,000 and ordered to pay $3401 in costs
On January 3, 2019 Edinburgh based Infuse Bottling Company commissioned an audit of the electrical wiring on a bottling plant following concerns from an electrician.
The audit confirmed that the wiring on the machine was not compliant with Australian standards and the machine should not be operated.
Despite the warning, the machine was used to bottle wine for export to China, exposing workers to the risk of death or serious injury.
By April 16, 2019, the unsafe machinery had been used to fill 212,000 bottles over 150 hours of use.
A SafeWork SA prohibition notice was issued at 11.15am on that day requiring the machine not be used.
However, workers continued to finish the day’s work before shutting the machine down.
The company argued that one of the reasons for the maintenance work not being completed was because of a downturn in business with China.
Maverick Steel Pty Ltd
$100,000 fine and ordered to provide a plaque dedicated to Jeffrey Wright.
On December 14, 2019, Jeffrey Wright fell through a roof at a Port Adelaide business and onto a concrete floor 6.5m below.
The 51-year-old died from his injuries.
Mr Wright had been replacing roof sheets on a premises rented by the company.
He did not have formal training at working at heights and was not provided with a harness which could have saved his life.
Maverick Steel pleaded guilty to three breaches of work, health and safety laws.
By their plea the company acknowledged that Mr Wright and another worker had been employed to remove and replace the metal sheets from one side of the roof which could undermine the structural integrity of the building.
Mr Wright’s fiance, Rachael Donetzkow, said her partner was a “fun guy, caring and loving”.
Magill Grain Storage and Anthony Wallis
First defendant convicted and fined $87,500 while the second defendant was fined $24,500. Both defendants ordered to pay a total of $2294 in costs.
On February 14, 2020 a worker at the company’s Magill store front began to remove a shipment of white millet from the back of a truck.
The worker, a young man who was playing high level football, used a portable auger, a large rotating screw, to draw the grain up and into containers.
As the worker tried to cut away a bag which was stuck in the auger, the truck driver turned the machine on, trapping the worker’s hand and causing a “degloving” injury where the top layer of skin is torn away exposing tendon, bone and muscle.
The Tribunal heard that the victim was now unable to play A-grade football because of the injury.
The company has been run by one family for more than 90 years but was sold in the aftermath of the incident as the directors continued to have flashbacks of what had happened.
Kara Resources Pty Ltd and Taurus Recruitment Pty Ltd
First defendant convicted, fined $455,000 and ordered to pay $2568 in costs. Second defendant fined $24,000 and ordered to pay $2568 in costs.
On April 21, 2020, young father Robbie Westover was attempting to clear a blockage in a Rollercone Crusher at Kara Resource’s Truro site.
Mr Westover entered the machine through the discharge conveyor belt and was lying on his back attempting to clear the blockage.
The metal cap within the machine dislodged, triggering the counterweight which hit Mr Westover’s head with enough force to pierce his hard hat and leave him with fatal injuries.
Kara Resources pleaded guilty to breaching work, health and safety laws by failing to properly train and supervise Mr Westover as he attempted to clear the blockage, leading to the worker being exposed to the risk of death or serious injury.
Taurus Recruitment, a labour hire company, pleaded guilty to breaching work, health and safety laws for failing to communicate with Kara Resources to ensure that Mr Westover was safe at work.
SA Support Services Incorporated
Company convicted, fined $72,000 and ordered to pay $2918 in costs.
The company, a registered charity and NDIA provider, provided accommodation and services to young men with disabilities.
At the company’s Murray Bridge site a worker was assaulted by a man who had a history of sexual offending against a different care worker in 2012.
The worker was working an overnight shift and had her back turned to the patient when he grabbed her from behind and dragged her to another room of the building.
The patient tried to forcibly remove the worker’s clothes but stopped when another person walked into the room.
The patient was known to the company as someone with high level clinical needs, had been diagnosed with psychopathic-type personality disorder and posed a severe danger to others.
The patient had previously removed batteries from alarms at the property to prevent staff calling for help.
Since the incident the company no longer houses patients who pose significant risks to workers and new safety procedures have been installed.
Pacific Sea Salt Pty Ltd
Convicted, fined $75,000 and ordered to pay $2911 in costs.
On April 17, 2020 Courtney Herbert’s arm became trapped between a roller and a motorised conveyor belt at the salt packing operation in Whyalla.
Ms Herbert had tried to brush salt away from the return roller when her shirt became caught in the machinery, dragging her right arm into the gears.
The machine was turned off when another worker heard her screams, but she was left trapped in the exposed machinery for several minutes until the tension of the belt could be released by a worker using a spanner.
Ms Herbert needed surgery for two large degloving injuries to her elbow as well as third degree friction burns and a laceration of her tricep muscle at her elbow.
Pacific Salt has since spent $50,000 installing safety guards and emergency stop buttons on its machinery to prevent future accidents.
Port Augusta Steel Centre Pty Ltd, Geoffrey Glen and Julie Glen
First defendant convicted, fined $134,000 and ordered to pay $2610 in costs. Both second and third defendant fined $33,000 each and ordered to pay $1510 each in costs.
On September 16, 2020 a 16-year-old old apprentice, who had only been on the job for six weeks, was pinned under 30 sheets of steel weighing 1200kg.
He suffered a broken leg and extensive soft tissue damage.
The accident was the result of the hundreds of kilograms of steel being stored in an ageing rack which was located outside and vulnerable to rust and wear.
When loading steel sheets into the rack, two posts snapped, trapping the apprentice between a wall and 1200kg of steel.
Workers came to his aid and used a car jack, a car wheel and wooden beams to help prop the steel up and drag him out.
But the process took so long the apprentice’s parents arrived to still find him trapped.
An improved rack which would have prevented a similar accident only cost $850 to design.
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