Sydney building company Hibernian Contracting fined $180,000 after ‘hazardous chemicals’ explosion burns worker

A Sydney construction company has been ordered to pay a $180,000 fine, after a worker suffered horrific burns in an oil tank explosion at a council depot.

A Sydney construction company has been ordered to pay a $180,000 fine, after a worker

suffered horrific burns in an oil tank explosion at a council depot.

Labourer Dustin Clifford was injured so badly he had to be placed into a coma at the scene, after he was engulfed in flames 10m high.

The NSW Industrial Court fined his then-employer Hibernian Contracting on Tuesday,

almost three years after the blast.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a work health and safety duty and exposing Mr Clifford to risk of death or serious injury.

Hibernian was contracted by Camden Council to redevelop its Narellan works depot in southwest Sydney.

Mr Clifford, who had worked for Hibernian for three years, and used a grinder to cut through a pipe attached to an old waste oil tank on August 17, 2022.

He aimed to have the tank lifted from a concrete pit, after Hibernian workers had already used grinders to remove other tanks and metal covering the site in the days before.

Police, ambulance and firefighters responded to an explosion at a workplace on Millwood Ave, Narellan in 2022. Picture: Annie Lewis

A council worker had emptied each of the tanks in the pit beforehand except for the waste oil tank, and had told Hibernian’s site supervisor Kevin O’Keeffe and sole company director, Martin Breen.

The court heard Mr Clifford entered the site alone after a break and did not tell anyone else that he was going to do work on the waste oil tank.

Sparks from his grinder ignited oil in the tank, triggering a flame about 10m high, which engulfed the pit.

Mr Clifford sustained burns to his face, abdomen, upper and low back, and his upper arms.

Emergency services placed him in an induced coma at the site, before he was flown to Royal North Shore Hospital.

He received two skin grafts and was hospitalised for 12 days.

Subsequent testing found samples of black liquid from the ruptured oil tank and the pit contained hazardous chemicals.

The court found a number of Hibernian’s safety systems had gone wrong.

This included a daily hazard assessment checklist, signed by Mr Clifford on the day, that failed to identify hazards.

Hibernian also did not have a hot work permit system at the time and workers were able to freely access hot tools, like angle grinders.

The labourer spent 12 days in hospital. Picture: Annie Lewis

SafeWork NSW said Hibernian would have been aware Mr Clifford intended to use a grinder

on the tank if it had a hot work permit system.

During the tender process, the Council had provided a Construction Environmental Management Plan for the site, which identified the various oils, chemicals and fuels around the pit.

Justice Jane Paingakulam found Hibernian’s site supervisor, Mr O’Keeffe, had not reviewed the plan from Council and the company had failed to determine if the pit was a

hazardous area.

The company director, Mr Breen, apologised for the company’s failures.

Since the incident, Hibernian complied with multiple notices from SafeWork NSW, hiring an

external contractor to clear the remaining tanks in the pit and updating its safety systems.

Mr Breen also limited the number of people working for the company to ensure greater

oversight, with himself or his brother providing direct supervision at all times.

Justice Paingakulam accepted that the company showed remorse, noting it had no prior

convictions.

Originally published as Sydney building company Hibernian Contracting fined $180,000 after ‘hazardous chemicals’ explosion burns worker