Pipecon admits it was understaffed at time of Delacombe fatal trench collapse

A seven-year-old girl has spoken of the heartbreak of losing her dad when a trench collapsed near Ballarat as the company admits to breaking laws.

Charlie Howkins and Jack Brownlee died in a trench collapse in March 2018

A young girl says she wishes her dad could watch her grow up after he was killed when a trench collapsed at an understaffed and under-supervised site near Ballarat in 2018, a court has heard.

Construction company Pipecon appeared in Ballarat County Court after pleading guilty to failing to provide supervision which led to the workplace deaths of Charlie Howkins, 34, and Jack Brownlee, 21, in Delacombe March 2018.

Family members of both men gave harrowing victim impact statements to the court on Tuesday before sentencing was adjourned Wednesday.

In a PowerPoint presentation to the court, Sophie, 7, one of Charlie’s two children, said she was shattered by his death.

“I’ll never have a dad who is as loving and caring as you, I wish you were here to see me grow up,” she said.

Janine and Dave Brownlee said Jack was in the trench for five hours but their family wasn’t notified.

The court heard project supervisor Shaun Maher said he had asked for additional employees in the lead up to the tragedy but instead he was given a smaller team that included Charlie and Jack.

Not only was the project understaffed but it was under-supervised, the court heard.

Pipecon had recently doubled its amount of safety equipment on the site, spending $20,000 on hiring trench shields and manhole cages from Maybe Hire.

But workers claimed the manholes did not have cages or trench shields available on the site.

The manhole where the tragedy occurred had also been exposed to water and sunlight which led to clay drying out and losing its integrity. An excavation expert said the sub-surface conditions meant the manhole would inevitably collapse.

At 10am on March 21 workers stopped for a break but when Charlie and Jack didn’t show up, they went looking and eventually found them in the collapsed trench.

Jack was found with his head and arm sticking above the dirt screaming for help but Charlie wasn’t moving.

Mr Maher and a team of workers rushed to free the men.

Emergency services were able to free Jack but he was taken to hospital in Melbourne where he later died.

Mitch Brownlee, right, said there were no words to explain the loss of his brother and best friend.

In a victim impact statement, Charlie’s partner Lana Cormie struggled through tears as she told the court the pain was too hard to face.

The court heard Lana was standing at the police blockade “for an eternity” and no one from the company had contacted her.

“As I rang Charlie over and over, I began to shake,” she said.

“I asked Pipecon’s receptionist if it was Shaun’s crew, she said I don’t know – that was Pipecon’s first lie.

“No one had bothered to notify a dead man’s widow, this failure to notify is confusing, it’s insulting and shows zero respect to our families.”

Jack’s father Dave Brownlee said he wanted to take his son’s place.

“As I arrived on site (on the day of the tragedy), I was blocked from entering the area by police officers, it looked like something out of a horror movie,” he said.

“I was so angry that a kid who only worked for Pipecon for eight weeks was in this situation.

“I wanted to swap places with my boy, I would’ve given anything to do this and let him live his life.”

Jack’s mother Janine said her heart ached every day.

“Jack was in the trench for five hours with paramedics working on him and we weren’t notified,” she said.

“I’m angry that we weren’t notified. Jack was denied the right to have his family with him.”

Lana Cormie said no one had told her that her partner had been involved in the tradedy. She waited at the police bloackage “for an eternity”.

After hearing the victim impact statements, Pipecon Director Andrew Maher apologised to the families involved.

“I can’t imagine the pain and grief you have suffered for the past three and a half years,“ he said.

Pipecon’s defence team said the company was committed to making sure the tragedy would never happen again.

Pipecon will be sentenced on Friday November 12.