Prosecution Details

Where under a labour hire arrangement work was carried out for remuneration by a worker, for a client of the accused, namely Jenara Pty Ltd ,in the course of Jenara Pty Ltd's trade or business, in relation to matters over which the accused had the capacity to exercise control, the accused failed to, so far as was practicable, provide and maintain a working environment in which a worker was not exposed to hazards, and by that failure caused death, contrary to sections 19(1) and 19A(2) when read with s23F of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984

The accused was a labour hire company which employed a worker for remuneration and arranged for said worker to work for Jenara Pty Ltd who was one of its clients. 

The client ran a grain growing farm near Miling.     

During the afternoon on Sunday 16 November 2008 the worker was working alone and riding an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) on a road on the client's farm when he rode into a wire gate known as a ‘cockies gate'.

Early the next morning (17 November 2008) a truck driver working for the client found the worker lying on the road.

The worker was not wearing a helmet and was cold to touch with a lot of blood coming out of his nose and ears.

The worker had suffered a serious head injury and died in RPH on Tuesday 18 November 2008

Workers on the farm, including the worker provided by the Accused, had been operating the ATV without wearing a suitable helmet. 

The cockies gate was made of fencing wire and was difficult to see.

There had been a previous accident on the farm when someone had driven into a cockies gate because they could not see it. After that accident the standards, which are the vertical supports along the gate, had been painted to make them more visible.  However the paint had faded over time.

The accused had not visited the workplace in the 6 months that the victim worked there to identify hazards, assess risks and consider control measures.

Because of the accused's lack of knowledge of the working environment, it was not aware that the worker had not been provided with an approved helmet for use on the ATV, or of the abovementioned previous accident.

The Accused pleaded guilty.

Convicted