Cattle company guilty after man cage fall leaves two workers injured

A cattle company has pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a health and safety duty following a freak accident on a remote station in Central Australia.

Ambalindum Station in Central Australia.

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A cattle company has pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a health and safety duty following a freak accident on a remote station in Central Australia.

Hewitt Cattle CEO Mick Hewitt appeared in the Alice Springs Local Court in relation to an accident which left two workers with serious injuries after a man cage fell during construction work.

The court heard the company engaged a building group to undertake construction work at Ambalindum Station in Central Australia.

On 8 February 2018, three workers were using a telehandler fitted with a man cage to install downpipes on a new structure at the station.

Two of the workers were seriously injured when the man cage they were in broke free and fell over two metres.

Lawyer for NT WorkSafe Mark Thomas said the victim impact statement from one of the men demonstrated the incident changed his life significantly.

“He refers to fracture in his back … he also refers to nerve damage having occurred,” Mr Thomas said.

“He says he was told that permanent damage occurred and thinks he will never fully recover, he lives with no one to help.

“The work health authority says that the risk simply could have been easily identified if a risk assessment had been carried out with the consequence of the risk being eliminated.”

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Mr Thomas also said the prosecution accepts the breach was a result of “oversight”.

Defence counsel Paul Hardmond said the CEO of Hewitt Cattle was present in court which was a demonstration of how serious the company takes the matter.

“What the defendant has done specifically since this incident is that it has replaced all man cages on its properties with an enhanced design,” he said.

“The defendant has developed and overreaching risk assessment on performing man cage work using a telehandler”

The company faces a maximum penalty of $1,500,000.

The case before judge Greg Borchers has been adjourned for sentencing and will return to the Alice Springs Local Court at a later date.

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