Three serious breaches of Work Health and Safety Legislation were handed down by the ACT Industrial Court Magistrate on Wednesday involving Transport Canberra and City Services and Metal Manufacturers Pty Ltd. 

The three breaches culminated in fines totalling $757,000.

The Territory, with Transport Canberra and City Services being the responsible agency, was convicted in the Industrial Magistrates Court of a Category Two offence under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. 

The Territory pleaded guilty to a charge laid against it for the serious workplace injury to a worker at its Belconnen Bus Depot on November 3, 2021.

Workers were performing a maintenance task on the kingpins of the steering mechanism of a public passenger bus when a worker was crushed in a wheel well of the bus, causing the worker to suffer severe injuries which have prevented their return to pre-injury work.

The court imposed a $375,000 fine.

WorkSafe ACT says: “This is the first successful prosecution of its kind in the ACT, with the Territory being convicted of a serious offence against the WHS laws.”

“WorkSafe ACT will continue to focus on investigating failures of safety systems that put workers at risk.” 

Metal Manufacturers Pty Ltd was convicted of a Category Two offence, with a $375,000 fine, plus costs. 

Site manager, Jack Platt, was also convicted of a Category Two offence and received a $7500 fine, plus costs.

The charges laid arise from an incident that caused serious injury to a salesperson of the business.

The young worker was using an electric cable winding machine to cut cables into shorter lengths for delivery when the cable became jammed, causing the cable racking to fall forward on top of them and resulting in serious injury. 

WorkSafe ACT’s investigation revealed that the cable racking had not been secured to the floor.

The incident occurred in January 2022, with Metal Manufacturers Pty Ltd pleading guilty to charges laid against them in June.

WHS Commissioner Jacqueline Agius says: “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to persons conducting a business or undertaking and, in this instance, a manager. You must comply with your work health and safety obligations, or you will be personally held to account.”

“It is encouraging to see our courts appropriately penalising both the business and an individual responsible for these breaches.”