Vic school fined for safety violations that led to ground worker’s death

A private school in Victoria has been fined $140,000 for safety violations following the death of a groundworker four years ago.

The worker died after being struck by a tree branch on the school grounds on Valentine’s Day in 2018.

His body was found next to a large eucalyptus branch with two chainsaws - one still running and a pile of smaller cut branches.

The man was not wearing a safety helmet at the time of the incident.

The Melbourne County Court heard the worker was most likely cutting up the branch while it was still supported by the tree trunk. This created pressure that could make the branch move unpredictably. The court was told that workers were not informed of the risks associated with cutting a tree branch with a chainsaw.

The school had earlier pleaded guilty to failing to provide or maintain safe systems of work and failing to provide information, instruction, training or supervision.

Read the full story on the WorkSafe Victoria website.