Combe Pearson Reynolds Pty Ltd and Jack Adcock Consulting Pty Ltd fined $70,000 for Angaston Football Club roof collapse

A roof collapse at a country football club that injured two apprentices has led to a state-first prosecution over who was at fault.

A spectacular structural collapse at a Barossa Valley football club has closed a gap in state law and cost two engineering firms $70,000 in fines.

In a state legal first, the SA Employment Tribunal has held engineers – rather than tradesmen – responsible for a design fault that left two apprentices injured in 2021.

It said four of the seven pillars holding up the Angaston Football Club’s new “spectator terrace roof” had “collapsed at the base”, sending the duo “sliding down roof sheets”.

The culprit, it found, was a design fault that Combe Pearson Reynolds Pty Ltd and Jack Adcock Consulting Pty Ltd “should have”, but did not, identify at the planning stage.

“It is very fortunate that their injuries were very minor and no-one else was hurt … the potential for more serious physical or psychological injury was there,” the tribunal said.

SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell told The Advertiser it was the first time the watchdog had successfully prosecuted engineers for their failings.

“This important decision which puts engineers and designers on notice of the importance of their role in the ongoing safety to workers and the general public,” he said.

“In this particular case, it was fortunate that the two apprentices suffered only minor injuries – it could have been much worse.”

The collapsed spectator terrace roof at Angaston Football Club. Picture: SafeWork SA

The incident has resulted in a $70,000 workplace safety fine for the two firms that designed the structure. Picture: SafeWork SA

In its ruling, the tribunal said the collapse occurred at the club on November 21, 2021 and was the result of the bolts selected for the design.

“The bolts stipulated in the design, and used by the builder, to hold down the base plates of the columns of the spectator terrace were inadequate for the task,” it said.

“(This was) a fault in the engineering design by Combe Pearson Reynolds that should have been identified, during the independent compliance certification process, by Jack Adcock Consulting.

It said both companies had “pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity” to failing to comply with a health and safety duty, and “fully co-operated” with SafeWork investigators.

However, it found they had missed multiple opportunities to identify and rectify the flaw, failing to do so due to a “compressed timeline” on the project.

“To say that this incident occurred as a result of simple human error is both a true and insufficient explanation,” it said.

“That people make mistakes is normal, expected (and) why we have safety protocols that include both administrative and engineering controls to safeguard against hazards.

“The spectator platform collapsed because of failures at both levels of review … fortune played a part in limiting the injuries to very minor.”

It recorded convictions and fined the companies a combined $70,000, including levies and court costs.