Cranbourne West truck company fined over worker’s asphyxiation in tank

A truck manufacturing company has learnt its fate after a soon-to-be father was killed when he suffocated inside a metal tank at a Cranbourne West factory.

Xi Lei Wu, also known as Dillon, died from asphyxiation inside a mental tank after he was asked to clean it at Marshall Lethlean Industries.

A truck manufacturing company charged over the horrific death of a young apprentice who suffocated to death has been slapped with a $600,000 fine.

Marshall Lethlean Industries returned to the County Court on Friday for sentencing after pleading guilty to one charge of failing to ensure a safe workplace without risks to health earlier this year.

The company was charged over the death of a 20-year-old engineering fabrication apprentice, Xi Lei Wu, who died of asphyxiation while cleaning out the inside of a tanker on October 4, 2018.

The court heard Mr Wu, who had only started working at the Cranbourne West workplace 10 days earlier, had been “handballed” the task by another employee on the morning of his death.

Mr Wu was working in a confined area of a tank in which another employee had left a welder and wire feeder — which had “fallen into a state of disrepair” — overnight.

The court heard the solenoid valve on the wire feeder was faulty and became stuck in the ‘on’ position, allowing argon gas to leak through the torch nozzle when not in use.

Gas flowed into the tank throughout the night as a result of this defect, meaning there was little oxygen in the area in which Mr Wu had been working.

The court heard a worker raised the alarm that Mr Wu had “gone down” about 9.30am – believing he had fainted or was concussed–and descended into the tank to check on him.

Two workers tried to lift Mr Wu – who was described as being pale in the face and with blue lips – out of the tank but were “struggling”.

At this point another worker began to feel dizzy and started shaking — using a gas detector he announced there were “very low levels of oxygen” in the tank.

While an extraction fan was hauled on top of the tank to force air into the opening, Mr Wu was strapped into a harness and hoisted out of the tank using a crane.

He was declared dead at the scene.

Mr Wu's work area inside the metal tank on October 4, 2018. Picture: Supplied

The court heard safety audits conducted earlier in the year highlighted there were no safety or emergency systems in place to protect workers.

During the proceedings the court heard a victim impact statement written by Mr Wu’s family, describing the “huge impact” his death had had on his family and girlfriend.

On Friday Judge Douglass Trapnell found the company took “no steps” to insure against the risk of injury or death from a gas leak from defective welding equipment even though such steps were available and with little or no cost attached.

“In my opinion that conduct amounts to evident disregard by the company for the safety of Mr Wu and others at its workplace,” he said, adding the risk was “obvious and foreseeable”.

He said there were three “total failures” by the company — not having a qualified inspector routinely inspect and maintain welding equipment, requiring workers to store welders and equipment outside tankers when not in use and requiring workers to turn off the gas main after use.

“If any one of these safety procedures had been observed, the incident would not have happened.”

Judge Trapnell accepted the employees were not aware of any such safety procedures.

Taking into account the company’s early guilty plea, expressions of remorse and change of practices, he convicted and fined the company $600,000.

He told Mr Wu’s family and partner that his death was tragic.

The maximum penalty for a company found guilty of the offence is $1.45 million.Acting WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety, Adam Watson, said the incident was an “avoidable” tragedy.

“The dangers of working in confined spaces are well known and there is no excuse for employers who fail to control the risks.”