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Prosecution Details

Offender Quadtilla Pty Ltd (ACN 009 400 622)

Charges

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Charge Charge Number Offence Date Date Convicted Regulation Section Penalty Provision Penalty Imposed Date Sentenced
1 JO12175/10 24 November 2008 1st September 2011 3A(3)(b)(i) $250,000.00 1st September 2011
Description of Breach(es)

Where under a labour hire arrangement work was carried out for remuneration by workers for the accused who was a client of a labour hire agent, in the course of the accused'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 practicable provide and maintain a working environment in which workers were not exposed to hazards, and by that failure caused serious harm to a worker; contrary to sections 23F, 19(1) and 19A(2) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984.

Background Details

The Accused is a cabinet making and finishing company which was started in 1989 and has been running for 20 years.  It operates from Wangara and manufactures custom built furniture and shop fit outs from a range of wood and wood like materials such as Tasmanian Oak, and Medium Density Fibreboard. 

The Accused's workers included two apprentices.  They were a 3rd year apprentice Cabinet Maker, and a pre-apprentice.  The pre-apprentice had been working as a pre-apprentice for about 6 weeks. This was his first job in the Cabinet Making industry.

At its workplace the Accused stored sheets of material which weighed between 33kgs and 47kgs and were between 3050mm and 3070mm long and 370mm 1200mm wide. 

The sheets were hap hazardously stored through out the workplace.  When a sheet from a stack leaning on a wall was needed one or two workers would stand in front of the stack while a third worker tilted each of the sheets onto the worker/s in front of the stack.  The number of sheets tilted depended upon how far back in the stack the required sheet was.  When the required sheet was found it was dragged out from between the other sheets. The workers with the sheets tilted onto them then used their body weight to push the sheets back up and onto the wall. 

On 24 November 2008 while doing this at the workplace the workers holding the weight of the sheets were not strong enough to hold the weight, and the sheets fell onto the pre-apprentice, who was one of those workers, crushing his head and killing him. 

The sheets which fell onto the pre-apprentice weighed about 969.6 kgs with the whole stack weighing about 1440.9kgs. The sheets were between 3050mm and 3070mm long and 370mm and 1200mm wide.

On 26 March 2007 at a workshop in Malaga a worker was killed when a slab of stone fell on him in the same circumstances.

On 7 March 2008 a 22 year old cabinet making apprentice at a workshop in Malaga was killed when boards fell on him in the same circumstances.  The accident was reported in the April 2008 Bulletin of the Cabinet Makers Association of Western Australia.  The director of the accused is a member of the Cabinet Makers Association.




Outcome Summary

The Accused plead guilty and was convicted.

Court Magistrates Court of Western Australia - Perth
Costs $3316.00

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