Maria Thornton pleads guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court

A Queensland Museum safety manager has faced court after a taxidermist contracted a virus normally seen only in abattoir workers, a court has heard. It is believed to be the first such incident ever recorded.

Maria Thornton leaves the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, March 24.

A Queensland Museum workplace health and safety manager has faced court after a taxidermist contracted a virus normally seen only in abattoir workers, a court has heard.

Maria Thornton of Aspley faced the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday, March 29 after first appearing on Friday, March 24 when she pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a health and safety duty and exposing people to a risk of serious illness.

Work Health and Safety prosecutor Bronson Ballard explained to the court that there was an area in the South Brisbane museum where taxidermy, including the sourcing and preparation of exhibits, took place.

“(The work) entailed carcasses of animals including macropods being skinned, flesh being taken from the carcasses, and then using either using the skeleton of the animal as the exhibit itself or a mold being formed and the skin being reapplied for display,” Mr Ballard said.

“That work at times involved collection of dead animals by museum staff and then the subsequent receipt of these from either roadkill or … where animals have died in care.

“That work has entailed exposure to animal organs and fluids, and that’s carried with it a risk to workers of exposure to animals that may have zoonotic diseases including Q fever.”

The Queensland Museum. Picture: Richard Walker

He said a taxidermy worker employed by the museum contracted Q fever in January 2019, after Ms Thornton failed to finalise a risk assessment and put in place safe work procedures to protect staff.

He argued an email she sent a more senior staff member in 2015 seeking advice related to taxidermy and zoonotic diseases demonstrated she had taken some “proactive steps”, but also that she was well aware there was a risk of exposure to zoonotic diseases associated with taxidermy.

Defence barrister Eleanor Lynch said the nature of her client’s breach of duty was at the lower end of the scale in terms of seriousness and the risk of a taxidermist contracting Q fever through their work was very low.

“Workplace Health and Safety’s own material indicates that this is probably the first reported case of Q fever in taxidermy,” she said.

The court heard Ms Thornton had “very little” experience with taxidermy as it was a small component of the museum’s operations.

Ms Lynch said Ms Thornton was dealing with an “enormous” workload as the workplace health and safety manager of four museum sites in Brisbane, Ipswich, Townsville, and Toowoomba and was experiencing related anxieties and symptoms of depression.

She is still employed by the museum but works in a human services role rather than in safety.

Mr Lynch said her client had been described by her peers as a diligent worker and “community-minded”. She said she would never have expected to find herself in a courtroom.

Magistrate Julian Noud noted an infectious disease physician’s finding that there had never previously been an association between taxidermy and Q fever recorded in medical literature.

He said the museum worker’s diagnosis may be the first to be connected to her type of work and Ms Thornton’s case was therefore “exceptional”.

Taking into consideration Ms Thornton’s plan to retire next year, timely plea of guilty, “real and proactive” steps to identify risks of zoonotic diseases, great prospects of rehabilitation and other factors, Mr Noud decided to release her on a 12-month $1500 good behaviour bond.

No conviction was recorded.