Widgee Engineering fined over catastrophic injury to worker
Construction companies Widgee Engineering and Australian Crane Technology and Innovation have been fined a total of $160,000 after a 150kg beam fell on the head and chest of a worker.
Police & Courts
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Two construction companies have been fined a total of $160,000 in relation to a workplace incident that left a worker’s skull exposed after a steel beam fell on his head.
Gympie region-based company Widgee Engineering Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to comply with health and safety duty (category 2) when it faced Maryborough Magistrates Court on December 11, 2024.
The charge related to an accident on site on May 6, 2022, while the company was involved in the construction of a commercial building in Maryborough at 341 Alice Street which eventually house major franchises 7 Eleven and Forty Winks.
According to documents tendered in the case, SJ Higgins Constructions Pty Ltd had contracted Widgee Engineering Pty Ltd to work on the project.
The documents revealed a crane had been loaned to Widgee Engineering for two months and that one of the company directors, Peter Saal, was in charge of operating the crane at the relevant time.
It had been repeatedly discussed onsite that an exclusion zone be maintained and to keep out from under live loads.
Prior to the incident, Mr Saal had used the crane to lift and install 12 steel beams on top of a tall concrete walled structure at the workplace.
The fixing of the beams was part of the roof installation process and each of the beams weighed about 150kg, the documents read.
Mr Saal, the operator of the mini slewing crane, was required to have a C2 licence, but according to the documents, he only held a CN licence for a non-slewing style mobile crane.
About 12pm on May 6, 2022, Mr Saal was using the crane to lift a steel beam.
Another worker, Brian Harris, was inside the structure and underneath the crane, the documents read.
Mr Harris was holding a rope guiding the beam into place on the roof.
Mr Saal fully extended the boom to about 5m, when the main hook block contacted the head of the boom of the crane in an action known as two-blocking.
The two-blocking caused the main hoist to snap and drop the beam from a significant height, which then struck Mr Harris on the head and knocked him to the ground.
Two employees came to Mr Harris’ aid and the beam was moved off his chest, the documents read.
He sustained a significant laceration to his forehead and left eye area up to his hairline, with portions of his skull visible through the wound.
The investigation found the crane was not fitted with an anti-two blocking limiting device, which would have prevented the incident from occurring.
The documents state the defendant’s failures could be identified in four parts: they supplied the crane for use at the workplace without an anti-two block limiting device, they did not ensure that the worker conducted an adequate pre-start safety check, they did not identify that Mr Saal did not possess the appropriate licence and they did not ensure workers stayed out of the exclusion zone during operation of the crane.
In sentencing the defendant, magistrate John Milburn made reference to the other duty holders who had been sentenced in the matter in September 2024, and the fine of $85,000 for the defendant company Australian Crane Technology and Innovation Pty Ltd after it pleaded guilty to pleaded guilty to failing to comply with health and safety duty (category 2).
That company had carried out a number of inspections and audits on the crane and it had been deemed compliant, the court documents read.
A number of defects had not been detected by the compliance officer – most notably that it was not fitted with an anti-two block limiting device as required by Australian standards.
No conviction had been recorded in that matter.
Mr Saal had also been charged, but the case against him was discontinued with no evidence to offer.
Mr Milburn compared the liability of Widgee Engineering to the other duty holders and made the determination that it was slightly less in this case.
He noted that those who work in these industries were afforded the protection to their safety and welfare while at work.
He considered that substantial steps had been taken by the company to ensure that an incident like this would not happen again.
The company is no longer trading, which Mr Milburn noted was relevant to the fine.
He also noted there was a significant degree of foreseeability with respect to the risk, but that could be balanced against the company’s reliance on Australian Crane to conduct the audit of the crane competently, where they were let down.
Mr Milburn ordered that Widgee Engineering be fined $75,000 plus costs of $750 and $101.40 for filing.
No conviction was recorded.
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