Wednesday 24th March 2021

A Shed company and its director to be charged over a workers death. 

In March 2020, two workers fell from a shed roof. One of the men suffering fatal injuries, while the other man suffered multiple fractures. The workers were installing roof sheets on a farm when a strong wind lifted a sheet from the pack of roof sheets they were working near, causing them both to fall from a significant height.

WorkSafe alleges that the work was conducted without appropriate safety control measures in place and has commenced a prosecution against the shed company and its director over the worker’s death.

The charges include alleging circumstances of gross negligence against the shed company (for which a maximum penalty of a $2.7 million fine applies) and a charge against the company’s director that alleges the company’s gross negligence offence occurred with his consent or was attributable to his neglect (for which a maximum penalty of a $550,000 fine and five years imprisonment applies).

The first mention was held in the Esperance Magistrates Court on the 23 March.

Original release on Worksafe WA website

Illegal Asbestos waste disposal leads to imprisonment and significant fines.

An earthmoving company and one of its employees have been prosecuted by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) over the disposal of 1,400 tonnes of waste containing asbestos.

The asbestos-contaminated waste was collected from a Darlington building site in central Sydney in June and July 2016.

EPA investigations discovered that only one truckload out of 134 truckloads was lawfully disposed of at a licenced waste disposal site.

The employee was sentenced in the Land and Environment Court on 26 February 2021 for falsifying waste disposal dockets after pleading guilty to two charges of knowingly supplying false and misleading information about waste.

The man was sentenced to serve a 12-month term of imprisonment via an intensive correction order in the community, ordered to perform 250 hours of community service work and pay the EPA’s legal costs of $60,000.

The earthmoving company that employed the contractor was also convicted on two charges of knowingly supplying false and misleading information about the waste disposal in November 2020, following a separate EPA prosecution. The company was fined $450,000.

The EPA Director Major Compliance and Investigations said, ‘The sentence shows that criminal behaviour does not pay; the EPA will pursue and prosecute offenders who try to make a quick buck by damaging the environment.’ He said, ‘rogue operators caused harm for both the environment and honest companies.’

Do you have an Asbestos Management Plan in place for your work?

To view more on this topic, head to the EPA website.