Victorian businesses fined $11m as WorkSafe has record prosecutions

Workplace incidents where staff were killed or exposed to dangerous minerals were among those that contributed to Victorian businesses being fined more than $11m this year.

Workers crushed by machinery and miners exposed to a dangerous mineral are among the tragic incidents that led to Victorian businesses forking out more than $11m in fines this year.

It comes as WorkSafe revealed there were 178 prosecutions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act — the most ever — in the 2023/24 financial year at a success rate of 89 per cent.

Tragically 50 workers were also killed during this timeframe — 12 in the construction industry.

According to its annual report, Worksafe had more than 35,500 new claims, of which about 18 per cent were for mental health injuries.

WorkSafe also helped more than 26,000 workers return to work.

Biggest prosecution outcomes

Dennis Jones Engineering

Morwell company Dennis Jones Engineering paid the biggest fine of the year after an apprentice suffered a traumatic brain injury when a wobbly pipe struck him on the head.

Apprentice Byron Foley told the Victorian County Court the incident had a significant impact on his life which included undergoing a skull reconstruction.

The incident occured while Mr Foley was holding a plastic sleeve to steady a rotating length of steel pipe that was being threaded in a lathe when the pipe wobbled and bent, striking him in the head and placing him into an induced coma.

A Gippsland industrial component manufacturer, Dennis Jones engineering and its director Dennis Jones have been charged after an apprentice was seriously injured while at work.

Dennis Jones Engineering director Dennis Jones after his company and him were fined in the County Court for a workplace incident.

WorkSafe argued the company failed to eliminate or reduce the relevant risks by not ensuring that the external covers on the rear spindle were fixed in place to prevent lengths of pipe that protruded from the rear spindle from being threaded using the lathe.

The company was fined a record $2.1m while company director Dennis Jones, 56, was also fined $140,000 and ordered to perform 600 hours of community work.

The company pleaded guilty to two WorkSafe charges and was convicted.

LH Holding Management

This year a Somerton business became the first in Victoria to be prosecuted under the state’s workplace manslaughter laws after a worker was crushed and killed by a forklift.

LH Holding Management, trading as Universal Stone and Marble, was convicted and fined $1.3m after the tragic death of 25-year-old sub-contractor Michael Tsahrelias in 2021 after it pleaded guilty to the workplace manslaughter charge.

Laith Hanna was convicted and given a two year CCO after the tragic death of sub-contractor Michael Tsahrelias in 2021 Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

The Supreme Court heard the forklift — carrying a raised load and driven by company director Laith Hana — tipped over while turning over a sloped driveway, before landing on Mr Tsahrelias.

WorkSafe said the death was “entirely preventable” had the forklift been driven “with the load as low to the ground as possible” or had it not turned over any slope.

Hanna was also convicted and given a two-year community corrections order.

Saferoads

A Nar Nar Goon equipment rental company was fined $650,000 in May 2024 when a 925kg unrestrained safety barrier fell and killed a delivery driver.

Saferoads, trading as Road Safety Rentals, was convicted and fined after a barrier that was being unloaded from a flatbed semi-trailer fell onto the nearby 34-year-old delivery driver.

WorkSafe found the company did not enforce the correct safe work method statement procedures, including ensuring workers stood away from trucks during loading and unloading.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard there had been other cases prior to the incident where people had stood near the trucks during loading and unloading sessions.

The company pleaded guilty to two workplace charges and was convicted.

A&J Australia

A Laverton North plastics moulder was slapped with several hefty fines — equating to more than half a million dollars — after pleading guilty to 16 workplace charges.

A&J Australia was convicted and fined $545,000 for a series of charges, relating to various incidents.

The company was fined more than $400,000 after an investigation into a fire at the site which resulted in severe burns to workers.

A plastic granulator caught fire inside the factory after an engineer had used an LPG torch to melt plastic from the blades of the machine.

The engineer then attempted to extinguish the fire with an unlabelled container of liquid which turned out to be methylated spirits — despite having fire extinguishers nearby — which exacerbated the fire and caused severe burns to himself and the company’s director.

Among the fines dished out to the company included $100,000 for failing to provide training and $250,000 for failing to ensure the safe storage of substances.

The company was also fined $75,000 relating to a separate incident when part of a blow moulding machine fell 2.3m onto a worker’s head.

A $5000 fine was also issued for failing to notify Worksafe of the incident

Elastomers

A rubber company from Melbounre’s southeast was fined and convicted in April after a worker was killed while removing a blockage at a factory.

Rubber manufacturer Elastomers was fined $450,000 after a worker was hit on the head by parts of a rubber extrusion process line while attempting to remove a blockage which triggered the machine to automatically shutdown.

Dandenong South-based Elastomers failed to provide and maintain a safe workplace that resulted in a worker's death.

But while he was fixing the machine another operator, who couldn’t see the worker below, restarted the machine which started moving again and hit the worker on the head — killing him at the scene.

Worksafe found it was “reasonably practicable” for a safety barrier to have been placed to prevent people from accessing the “danger zone” of the machine while it was on.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to provide plant that was safe and without risks to health.

Sibelco Australia

South Gippsland miners were exposed to a dangerous mineral capable of causing lung cancer for eight years before their employer was charged.

Sibelco Australia was convicted and fined $400,000 in June after it pleaded guilty to workplace safety charges, relating to workers being exposed to silica dust — a mineral found in rocks, sand and clay — for a prolonged period at a Nyora sand quarry, with two former workers diagnosed with silicosis.

An investigation found silica dust leaked out of faulty bags used to collect silica flour, which at times burst and covered workers.

WorkSafe said the company should have had automated bagging systems in place.