Charelle Industries Pty Ltd, Ebony Anne Keech faces Bundaberg Magistrates Court

A costly mistake has landed a long-running Bundaberg family business in court where a magistrate found a thong-wearing worker was also to blame.

A longstanding local business and its director will pay big fines for a safety breach which left a worker with a serious back injury.

Charelle Industries Pty Ltd Director Ebony Anne Keech pleaded guilty in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on Thursday to two counts of failing to comply with health and safety duty.

The court heard on January 7, 2021, a then-17-year-old male employee fell off the roof of a house at Wallaville during his work with Charelle Industries, trading as Bundaberg House Relocators.

He was hospitalised for the back injury he suffered as a result of the fall.

The court heard he has since found full time employment elsewhere but still suffered back problems.

Workplace Health and Safety representative Gretchen McKinley told the court the employee never received formal training for working at height or relating to safety and risk.

Ms McKinley said Workplace Health and Safety would be seeking a $300,000 fine for Keech, and $1.5 million for Charelle Industries Pty Ltd.

Charelle Industries Pty Ltd and its Director, Ebony Anne Keech have been fined for failure to comply with workplace health and safety duties.

Defence barrister Morgan Windsor, told the court Charelle Industries and Keech didn’t have the capacity to pay the fines in full.

“It poses a significant financial burden on both clients,” Mr Windsor said.

He went on to argue that while Keech took responsibility for the employee’s injury, he was also to blame.

“He said he needed training to put on a helmet,” he claimed.

Magistrate John McInnes said while Keech must take responsibility, the employee made his own mistakes on the job.

“I take the view that he has breached his duty,” Mr McInnes said.

“He was wearing thongs.

“There was a harness available, but that wasn’t enforced.

“[A casual worker by the name of] Appleby warned the employee from walking along the roof of the house.

“He was told to walk on the rafters, but didn’t walk on the rafters.

“Some of the risks must have been as obvious to him as they would be to anyone else.”

Mr Windsor agreed both parties had a duty of care to prevent the accident from occurring.

“That’s the distinction between being able to do it himself, and the obligation to force it,” he said.

Mr Windsor told the court another employee, Mr Wormington, was supposed to provide on-the-job training to the employee.

Magistrate McInnes said while he acknowledged Mr Wormington was given the task to train the employee, Keech had a duty of care to comply with.

Bundaberg House Relocators

Ms McKinley defended her client’s position, saying Keech and the company were still at fault.

“If they had complied with their duties, he wouldn’t have been exposed to the risk,” she said.

“While misconduct may have put his own safety at risk, he was not acting contrary to any training, direction or instruction, because, effectively, that was non-existent.”

Magistrate McInnes said “there’s a duty to him, and I do think he breached that duty, but as I see it, that places him more in the category of a co-offender, rather than someone who has the effect of reducing the liability of the person’s charged in this case”.

“I find Ms Keech, as a mind of the company, is a person of good character … who embraced the lesson learned from this unfortunate outcome on this particular occasion.”

Charelle Industries was fined $45,000 and Keech was fined $15,000 referred to SPER.

Keech had already paid some of the fine, which would be deducted from her head sentence.

She and Charelle Industries were also ordered to pay $851.40 each for the prosecution's fees, also referred to SPER.

No convictions were recorded.