Misz Pty Ltd owners front court after crane topples over
An overloaded crane toppled onto a factory in Dandenong South after a warning system was deliberately disabled, putting the lives of three people at risk.
South East
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A company that operated an overloaded crane that toppled onto a factory in Dandenong South after a warning system on the machine was disabled has been fined $160,000.
Misz Pty Ltd’s crane became unbalanced and toppled and its load fell onto a building owned by Martogg, a manufacturer and recycler of plastic products on June 3, 2019.
Misz Pty Ltd appeared for sentencing in the County Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty last week to a charge of failure of a person who has management or control to ensure workplace is safe and without risks to health.
Judge Andrew Palmer reduced the level of the fine, given the company‘s limited capacity to pay as it was no longer trading. The company has sold the crane and operated smaller cranes on a contract basis as well as a new tip trucking business, he said.
When the crane tipped over, the operator escaped unharmed while two workers on a platform in the building were also uninjured.
The building was undergoing extension works and Misz Pty Ltd was engaged to undertake structural lifting of steel structures.
The crane operator told investigators that a gust of wind pushed the crane “out of radius” and it had slewed to the right. He said the structure being lifted weighed 3.1 tonnes. He further
stated that he had no documented lift plan and only needed one when the load was more than 10 tonnes.
Investigators said windy conditions, combined with the weight of the load being lifted, rendered the workplace unsafe and not without risk to health.
Judge Palmer said the OHS breach involved the deliberate disabling of a warning system without any explanation.
“In the absence of such an explanation, the obvious inference is the warning system was disabled to allow the crane to be operated near to, at or beyond its safety perimeters without the warning system being triggered.”
However, Judge Palmer said the evidence didn’t suggest the company took a cavalier or corner cutting approach to safety in general.
“The crane was set up at an appropriate stable base, there were discussions about how to carry out the lift safely and the weight of the structure was reduced before the weight was lifted.”
