Cordwell Resources Pty Ltd and director Brian Andrew Cordwell plead guilty to reckless conduct
A sand mine worker standing in the bucket of a wheel loader was lifted 4.5m into the air to fix broken equipment. His boss has faced court after the worker was left with head injuries.
Police & Courts
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A Sunshine Coast concreting company and one of its directors has admitted to putting workers’ lives at risk during a maintenance upgrade of one of its sand mines.
Cordwell Resources Pty Ltd and director Brian Andrew Cordwell formally pleaded guilty in Maroochydore District Court on Tuesday, September 21, to one count each of reckless conduct under the Queensland Health and Safety Act.
The court heard following a failure at the company’s sand mine in Chevallum, where a suction line on the sand-wash equipment broke on March 15, 2019, Cordwell held a meeting with four staff members on March 18 where a plan was devised on how to repair the broken equipment.
Crown Prosecutor Jacqueline Ball said it was decided by Cordwell that two men, including the then 20-year-old victim, would stand in the bucket of a wheel loader while another staff member drove the machine in order for the pair to do the maintenance work on the broken valve.
Ms Ball said the bucket containing the two men was raised 4.5m into the air as Cordwell guided the driver using hand signals to the driver while he stood next to the machine.
Once in a position where the two men could work on the repair, Cordwell left the site.
Ms Ball said one of the men in the bucket knelt down as the other man held onto him “to ensure he didn’t fall forward out of the bucket”.
The court heard neither man was wearing the required safety harness as indicated in the company’s safety manual.
The bucket then began to “tilt forward”, which resulted in one of the men jumping from the bucket to safety.
“(The other man) stood up and as he did that the top edge of the bucket caught the back of his head and pushed it against the chain which was in front of him,” Ms Ball said.
The man who had jumped had eventually caught the attention of the driver, who then lowered the bucket and the injured man was taken to hospital.
The court heard he suffered two lacerations to the front and back of his head, which has left significant scarring.
In a victim-impact statement presented to the court, the injured man said he continued to be “self conscious” of the scarring and continued to have sensitivity near the wound.
Ms Ball said the company had safety procedures in place, including the requirement that scaffolding was to be used for any repair work at a great height and safety harnesses would be needed.
“(The company’s safety manual) prohibited people riding on the machine or any of its attachments,” Ms Ball said.
Ms Ball said Cordwell and the company each held the responsibility to ensure its staff were safe at all times.
“It’s submitted the offending is one of high culpability as it involves each defendant knowingly exposing workers to a risk of death or serious injury,” she said.
“They had documented procedures which they didn’t follow and they continued with the business … and this deliberate conduct put those workers at risk.”
Ms Ball said she would be recommending the company be fined $650,000 and Cordwell be sentenced to a maximum of 15 months in prison, with a third of the term to be imposed with actual jail time.
She also recommended a conviction be recorded for both defendants on “a count of the seriousness of the offending”.
Defence barrister Nathan Turner, who represented both the company and Cordwell, said the offending was “out of character” for both defendants as there was “no history of non compliance”.
Mr Turner said Cordwell, who wrote a letter to the court, was remorseful for his actions on the day of the incident and “regretted it every day since”.
He said the company would “need time” to finance any fine issued.
“The fine suggested by the prosecution would be more than triple their net profit in the last financial year,” Mr Turner said.
Judge Gary Long adjourned the sentencing to October 6.
Cordwell had his bail enlarged until that date.
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