15 QLD companies fined in court for health and safety breaches since 2021
A Gold Coast worker killed by a crane, an apprentice boilermaker whose testicle was crushed and an exploding tyre on a Logan worksite are just some of the cases Queensland’s courts have dealt with involving companies breaching health and safety regulations.
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A Gold Coast worker killed by a crane, an apprentice boilermaker whose testicle was crushed by a machine and an exploding tyre at a Logan worksite are just some of the cases courts have heard since 2021 involving companies fined for breaching health and safety regulations.
These 15 companies were fined in the past three years for unsafe work practices carried out on their watch.
Convictions Recorded:
Narellan Pools
A large fibreglass pool manufacturing business where yard foreman Kamndiin Turner was tragically killed when a crane crushed him twice on a northern Gold Coast worksite was fined $1.5 million for “flagrant” safety breaches.
Narellan Pool Pty Ltd, represented in court by chief executive Peter Baily, appeared in the District Court in Brisbane on June 14 before Judge Craig Everson, SC.
He slammed the lack of safety precautions at the Stapylton site.
Mr Baily was not personally charged, but Narellan Pools was fined $1.5 million and found guilty of industrial manslaughter
A conviction was recorded.
Cordwell Resources
A sand mining company director avoided jail time after he instructed a young worker, who was in a relationship with his daughter, to take part in a reckless and potentially deadly repair job.
Brian Andrew Cordwell faced Maroochydore District Court for his role in the workplace accident that left then 20-year-old Steel Adams with a head injury.
Cordwell and Cordwell Resources each pleaded guilty to one count each of reckless conduct under the Queensland Health and Safety Act.
The 56-year-old company director avoided jail time but the company was fined half a million dollars.
Judge Long sentenced Cordwell to six months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for 12 months.
He ordered Cordwell Resources to pay a fine of $500,000 within 12 months.
No Convictions Recorded:
Pinkenba Resource Recovery
A Bayside recycling business was hit with a $140,000 fine after the death of a young father-of-three in 2021 who was crushed under a three tonne shredder used to process waste materials.
Pinkenba Resource Recovery, a waste transfer and recycling business, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on February 18 to a charge of failure to comply - health and safety duty category 2, under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
Rick “Wicks’’ Clayton, an excavator and truck driver, died at the scene despite desperate efforts by ambulance officers to save him on January 22, 2021.
He was working the nightshift loading material into a shredder about 2.30am after working at the site for only six months.
On the night of the incident, two workers were tasked to clear a large pile of waste on the floor of the processing shed with no supervisor present, the court heard.
No convictions were recorded.
Blue Ribbon Stockfeed
Andrew Mark Childes, the boss of Central Queensland stockfeed company Blue Ribbon Stockfeed, was ordered to pay tens of thousands in fines for a major safety fail which left a young worker critically injured and scarred for life.
The company and its part owner/general manager Andrew Mark Childes each pleaded guilty to one count of failing to comply with their duty of care under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, ensuring employees’ safety while carrying out work for the business.
Austin Quilliam, 24, was working at Blue Ribbon Stockfeed in Park Avenue when the vertical conveyor bucket elevator used in the production process stopped working.
He suffered facial fractures including multiple fractures to his left jaw, chest injuries, a fractured vertebrae, knee cap, femur, wrist and elbow.
The court heard Mr Quilliam felt his feet move and the roof sheeting gave way underneath him. He also heard cracking.
Before he could step out of the way, he fell through the roof 9.8m on to the concrete floor below, hitting his face on an electrical cable tray located beneath the roof during the fall.
Workers who ran to Mr Quilliam’s aide found him conscious and bleeding from his mouth and under his chin.
Blue Ribbon was ordered to pay a $75,000 fine and Mr Childes was fined $10,000.
No conviction was recorded.
Lyall Tadman
A worker driving a crane for Narallen Pools, Lyall Tadman, was fined $25,000 in Beenleigh Magistrates Court in January, 2024 for his role in a horrific workplace accident.
Kamndiin Turner, 42, who was working as a “dogger’’, or spotter, was standing between the crane and a 650kg load on the ground.
There was a blind spot on the crane and Mr Tadman crashed into Mr Turner.
He did not see Mr Turner and continued to drive over him.
He then accidentally reversed over Mr Turner as well.
Mr Tadman pleaded guilty to one count of failure to comply with a health and safety duty category two, risking serious injury or death.
Colpak Logistics
A Logan trucking company was fined $75,000 in court for allowing its drivers to work excessive hours under fatigue while not maintaining accurate files or records.
Meadowbrook company Colpak Logistics pleaded guilty in Beenleigh Magistrates Court on February 23 to four counts of contravention of duty to ensure safety of heavy vehicles.
Investigations began when a crash happened in December that year and the Department of Transport found three other safety breaches also occurred late in 2019.
The court heard there were no electronic or written records of the hours worked by drivers either.
Colpak Logistics was fined $75,000 and a costs of court of $101.40 were ordered.
Gold Coast Metal Roofing
A roofing company was fined $30,000 for unsafe practices after an employee had a shocking accident while working on a Logan building.
While working on a roof at an abattoir in Beenleigh, two employees from Gold Coast Metal Roofing (GCMR) were standing on a skylight when one of them fell through the glass.
The 28-year-old suffered multiple fractures and remained in hospital for three weeks.
He needed metal rods inserted in his body, could no longer drive, had to downgrade his house due to lack of mobility and could not work for 18 months.
GCMR pleaded guilty in Beenleigh Magistrates Court to one count of failure to comply with health and safety duties, category two.
GCMR was fined $30,000 and ordered to pay $1601 in court costs, no conviction was recorded.
BWC Equipment
A Brisbane construction company was fined $150,000 after a tyre exploded on site in Logan, badly injuring a worker.
Beenleigh Magistrates Court heard on April 12 that a worker from BWC Equipment was involved in a serious work accident on June 16 in 2022 in Crestmead.
The court heard the worker was inflating a Bridgestone trailer tyre and walked away.
When he returned some time later the tyre exploded.
He broke his jaw, suffered a fractured jawline, concussion and bleeding to the brain.
Managing director Gavin Lindsay Turner was not present in court but accepted responsibility on behalf of BWC Equipment for the accident.
BWC Equipment was fined $150,000 and ordered to pay court costs of $1601.
No conviction was recorded.
Asher Enterprises
The company was fined tens of thousands of dollars after a “devastating” workplace accident involving a woodchipper.
Family owned timber business Asher Enterprises Pty Ltd pleaded guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty – category 2.
The company had been conducting wood chipping at the Port of Brisbane when the machine broke down requiring its 2.2 tonne disc to be removed by a small crane.
The disc was then rested on its edge and stabilised by makeshift wooden blocks.
On August 27, 2021 the disc fell and caused a long wrench being used by a worker to hit his upper right leg causing significant injuries, the court heard.
Asher Enterprises was fined $70,000 and no conviction was recorded.
Ashden Trading
The owner of a Stapylton building materials company faced a massive fine after an employee’s right arm was trapped inside a glue machine in an horrific accident.
Anthony Paul George, CEO of family-owned Gold Coast company Ashden Trading, faced Beenleigh Magistrates Court on April 9.
The Pimpama man pleaded guilty to one count of failure to comply with a health and safety duty, category two.
The court heard that on November 22, 2021 a worker at his materials business in Stapylton was cleaning a glue machine when his right arm became stuck.
He was using a toilet brush to clean the machine and then stuck his hand in further to clean it.
The man’s right arm was trapped, so he could not operate the safety switch to turn it off.
He was taken to hospital and made a full recovery before finding work at another company, the court heard.
Ashden Trading was fined $100,000 and George received a fine of $30,000.
Inglewood Sawmill
A business west of Warwick was slapped with a hefty fine after a worker was injured on the premises due to an oversight and a missing piece of safety equipment.
Inglewood Sawmill director Nicolas James Upton pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to a charge of failure to apply to health and safety duties (category 2).
In Warwick Magistrates Court Office of the Workplace Health and Safety prosecutor Jade Henderson revealed a simple fix of a guard on a wood chipping machine could have prevented the injury.
Although the man was wearing steel capped safety boots at the time, he still suffered serious injuries to his foot, including a near-complete amputation of his big toe, a deep degloving injury and a fracture to another toe.
Inglewood Sawmill was fined $60,000 and no conviction was recorded.
Criterion Industries
The company was fined $150,000 over the death of a worker at its Brisbane factory after he became entangled in a conveyor and fell.
Criterion Industries Qld Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to a single count of failing to comply with health and safety duty – category two.
Brisbane Magistrates Court heard that on the morning of June 21, 2022, worker Leonard Cope used a ladder to access an overhead conveyor at Criterion’s Pinkenba industrial shed.
The conveyor was running at the time and Mr Cope became entangled in the top rail, Magistrate Peter Saggers said during a sentence hearing.
Another worker heard Mr Cope scream and pushed an emergency stop button to halt the conveyor belt.
Criterion Industries was fined $150,000 and no conviction was recorded.
Enco Precast
The company was fined tens of thousands after a worker was impaled by metal “spears” in a workplace accident and, in an unrelated matter, was fined for refusing entry to government safety inspectors amid a stoush with the CFMEU.
Brisbane concrete producer Enco Precast today pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a health and safety duty after the industrial accident in May 2019.
Brisbane Magistrates Court heard that during the de-stressing process a metal cable under tension slipped free and hit a worker with two wires becoming impaled in his leg.
A grinder had to be used to free the worker with surgery required to remove the wires.
Enco Precast was fined $68,000 and no conviction was recorded.
In a separate matter, Enco Precast and its director Steven Brian James pleaded guilty to two counts each of hindering or obstructing an inspector after failing to let a health and safety inspector on to the worksite.
Mr James was placed on an undertaking not to commit an industrial offence, with a $4000 security payable on a breach.
Convictions were not recorded.
Scocan Holdings
The owners of a Tinana pineapple farm were fined a total of $75,000 after being found guilty of failing to comply with workplace health and safety when a young worker was seriously injured after being run over by a harvester.
Katherine Anne Maxwell, Scott Evans Maxwell and their company Scocan Holdings Pty Ltd, were each found guilty of failing to comply with health and safety duty category 2 in Maryborough Magistrates Court.
Mr Mead said he remembered getting on the trailer, also known as a harvester, which had a few crates filled with pineapples on it, about 11am.
He said he sat under the conveyor belt, also known by workers as the “boom”, on the right side of the trailer, with his legs dangling over the side of the trailer when the incident happened.
In a signed statement made to a safety investigator in December 2022, the court heard Mr Mead had said “simply to amuse myself I was lifting my feet up and down in the dirt, similar to a galloping-type motion”.
Scocan Holdings Pty Ltd was fined $65,000 over the incident, with each of the Maxwells fined $5000.
Watkins Steel
The award-winning Brisbane company was fined $50,000 after one of its apprentices sliced open his scrotum with an angle grinder that kicked back.
Banyo-based family business Watkins Steel pleaded guilty to one count of failing to comply with a health and safety duty – category two.
The Brisbane Magistrates Court heard the “enthusiastic” third year apprentice boilermaker was cleaning mill scale of a universal steel beam – a task he had not been asked to do – when the grinder ricocheted back towards him.
“The wire brush attachment caught in his trousers and embedded in his groin, causing a laceration to the right hemisphere of his scrotum and exposing his right teste,” Work Health and Safety prosecutor Rebecca Lloyd said.
The court heard the worker was wearing protective equipment but not a leather apron and had not been instructed to wear one.
Watkins Steel was fined $50,000 and no conviction was recorded.
Wades Softwoods
A Maryborough sawmill has been fined $50,000 after a worker lost a finger in an incident involving a multisaw.
Director Robin Wade appeared in Maryborough Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty on behalf of Wades Softwoods to one count of failing to comply with health and safety duty, with the failure exposing an individual to the risk of serious injury.
On the day of incident, Mr Wilson was working with a colleague to prepare the multisaw for cleaning.
When he was undoing the nuts, his spanner became stuck.
His left index finger was crushed between the nut and the machine as the other worker elevated the machine before Mr Wilson was ready.
He called out for help, but in the noisy workshop, no one could hear him.
When he tried to pull his finger out of the machine, it became amputated, the court heard.
Wades Softwoods was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay costs of $1601.40.
No conviction was recorded.
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