Prosecutions 2005 (PDF 3269kb) - WorkSafe Victoria

SECTION 3
PAUL ALAN FRANCIS
Date of offence: 25 May 2002
Date of prosecution:
Magistrate:
Plea:
15 July 2005 at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court
His Honour Magistrate Beder
Not guilty
In early 2002, development of a residential subdivision commenced at 600 McClelland Drive,
Langwarrin. Paul Alan Francis Pty Ltd trading as Able Tree Services was contracted to undertake
the manual tree felling on the site.
On 25 May 2002, Paul Francis - an operational director of Paul Alan Francis Pty Ltd - and a number
of employees commenced works at the site. The system of work developed for felling the trees
involved an initial chainsaw cut followed by use of an excavator to push the trees over. The trees
were all to be felled in a north-south direction to facilitate easy removal from the site.
When work commenced that morning, Paul Francis was operating the excavator and another
employee was placing cuts in the trees. A second employee had been instructed to trim the foliage
of already felled trees and a third employee was mulching felled trees at another part of the site.
The first employee and Paul Francis started to cut a tree that was approximately 21 metres high.
After the cut had been made on the tree, Paul Francis pushed the tree over expecting it to fall in
a northerly direction. The tree, however, fell in a north westerly direction and struck the second
employee who was working on a chainsaw within the fall zone of the tree. The second employee
sustained fatal injuries when he was struck by the chainsaw he was working on.
Arborist Gary Harding found a number of safety deficiencies and departures from industry practice
that contributed to the death:
• most of the trees at the site had been felled using only a back cut which meant there was less
control over the direction of the fall;
• the tree that had fallen on the second employee had obvious rot that had not been removed prior
to felling;
• the tree that had fallen on the second employee had been felled against the lean and crown
weight of the tree;
• the personnel exclusion zone (zone of two to two-and-a-half times the height of the tree) had not
been enforced;
• tree stumps and unfelled trees were present in the fall zone thereby creating a risk of the tree
deviating from its fall path; and
• no job safety analysis or risk assessment had been conducted in relation to the task.
Breach: Sections 21(1) & (2)(a) and 52(1); and sections 21(1) & (2)(e) and 52(1) of the Occupational
Health and Safety Act 1985.
Result: Committed to stand trial in County Court.
116PROSECUTIONS 2005