Ghost Gully Produce fined $100,000 for workplace health safety breach after worker on farm was elecrocuted

A Gatton farm has been hit with a massive fine after a worker was electrocuted by 11,000 volt powerlines while working at the property in 2018, with an appeal against the finding dismissed.

AN APPEAL by a Gatton farming business against a fine for a workplace health and safety breach has been dismissed, and their penalty bumped up to $100,000.

In July 2018 Ghost Gully Produce was charged with failing to comply with an electrical safety duty after a contractor was electrocuted on their Gatton farm.

During a trial held in Toowoomba Magistrates Court in February 2021, the court was told that on July 13, 2018 scaffolder Matthew Madden was performing work for Ghost Gully Produce on the roof of a shed at the premises which was underneath uninsulated 11,000 volt powerlines.

While performing work on the shed Mr Madden was holding a 6.5m steel pole which came into contact with the powerlines, and as a result he suffered an electric shock which resulted in serious burn injuries.

The court was told that in September 2017 Ghost Gully Produce had received a notice from Energex that they had visited the property to inspect a potential safety issue regarding the shed underneath the powerlines, and advised that Ghost Gully Produce not access the shed or carry out any work on it.

At the trial Mr Madden gave evidence that he was erecting scaffolding along the perimeter of the roof to allow repairs to be done on solar panels on the shed roof when the accident happened.

Ghost Gully Produce director Kym Samuelsen also gave evidence that Energex had placed temporary marker flags on the overhead lines in the three to six months after the safety notice had arrived at the farm.

The court was also told the solar panels had been installed on the roof of the shed in 2014, prior to Ghost Gully Produce purchasing the property, and that photographs of the powerlines had been sent to an electrician accompanying Mr Madden at the site on the day of the incident.

On September 2, 2021 Ghost Gully Produce was found guilty of the workplace health and safety offence and fined $80,000, with no conviction recorded.

Ghost Gully Produce appealed the decision of the finding of guilt, while Work Health and Safety prosecutor Aaron Guilfoyle appealed against the fine on the grounds it was “manifestly inadequate”.

In an appeal against the finding of guilt heard in Brisbane District Court on February 14, 2022, Ghost Gully Produce’s barrister Stephen Kissick submitted that “merely being a consumer of electricity to support the operation of a business or undertaking cannot, without more, create a duty of care” under the Electrical Safety Act.

Judge Anthony Rafter disagreed with the farm’s submission, and that “the duty imposed by (the Electrical Safety Act) is upon a person conducting a business to ensure that the business is conducted in a way that is electrically safe”.

Judge Rafter ruled the fine was inadequate, instead imposing a $100,000 fine as well as costs of $1800. Both were referred to SPER, with no convictions recorded.

Originally published as Ghost Gully Produce fined $100,000 for workplace health safety breach after worker on farm was elecrocuted