Prosecutions 2005 (PDF 3269kb) - WorkSafe Victoria

HEALTH AND SAFETY PROSECUTIONS
BYDE CONSTRUCTIONS PTY LTD
Date of offence: 31 August 2004
Date of prosecution:
Magistrate:
Plea:
15 November 2005 at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court
His Honour Deputy Chief Magistrate Muling
Guilty
On 9 August 2004, a WorkSafe inspector attended a residential construction site in Yarraville where
he observed employees of the defendant exposed to the following hazards:
• insufficient scaffolding for working at heights of 4.5m above ground;
• insufficient hand railing and kickboards;
• an unprotected work platform that had bricks, a cement mixer and a wheelbarrow below it;
• no fall protection; and
• two flexible electrical extension leads lying in muddy conditions and being used near water.
On 31 August 2004 the inspector again attended the workplace and observed:
• workers installing roof sheets using a harness – not a fall arrest system; and
• persons accessing the roof by climbing onto the top plate of the frame and then climbing through
the roof batons – putting them at risk of a fall distance of approximately 2.5m.
As a result of the above observations, the inspector issued five prohibition notices and four
improvement notices. All were complied with within the specified timeframes.
Breach: Sections 21(1) & (2)(c) and section 23 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985.
Result: Without conviction fined $10,000.
CADBURY SCHWEPPES PROPRIETARY LTD
Date of offence: 29 July 2003
Date of prosecution:
Magistrate:
Plea:
20 May 2005 at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court
His Honour Magistrate Brear
Guilty
On 29 July 2003 a truck driver employed by an independent contractor together with an employee
of the defendant, were loading pallets on a truck at the defendant’s premises when the truck driver
moved a vertical bar on the truck to make more space.
Unable to see the truck driver, the employee drove the forklift towards the side of the truck,
pinning the driver’s hand against the bar. The truck driver’s hand was crushed by the forklift and
he suffered a deep laceration to his right hand, a crushed tendon and nerve damage. The injuries
required surgery and the truck driver was unable to work for three weeks.
In two previous incidents in 1998 and 2001, employees had been struck and injured by forklifts.
Breach: Sections 21(1) & (2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985.
Result: Without conviction fined $17,500.
PROSECUTIONS 2005
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