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IR Alert Issue 21 - $375,000 fine for unsupervised apprentice death
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<!DOCTYPE html><html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" lang="en"><head><title></title><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1" /><!--[if mso]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch><o:AllowPNG/></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><!--><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Montserrat" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /><!--<![endif]--><style> *{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}@media (max-width:820px){.social_block.desktop_hide .social-table{display:inline-block!important}.image_block img.big,.row-content{width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}} </style></head><body style="background-color:#fff;margin:0;padding:0;-webkit-text-size-adjust:none;text-size-adjust:none"><table class="nl-container" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;background-color:#fff"><tbody><tr><td><table class="row row-1" align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tbody><tr><td><table class="row-content stack" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;color:#000;width:800px" width="800"><tbody><tr><td class="column column-1" width="100%" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;font-weight:400;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:5px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0"><table class="image_block block-1" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tr><td class="pad" style="width:100%;padding-right:0;padding-left:0"><div class="alignment" align="center" style="line-height:10px"><img class="big" src="https://d15k2d11r6t6rl.cloudfront.net/public/users/Integrators/a094431a-3703-47bd-bc1b-c32d6c8901d6/me_qta/2022%20IR%20Alert.png" style="display:block;height:auto;border:0;width:800px;max-width:100%" width="800" /></div></td></tr></table></td></tr> </tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="row row-2" align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tbody><tr><td><table class="row-content stack" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;color:#000;width:800px" width="800"><tbody><tr><td class="column column-1" width="100%" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;font-weight:400;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:5px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0"><table class="text_block block-1" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;word-break:break-word"><tr><td class="pad"><div style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><div class style="font-size:14px;font-family:Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;mso-line-height-alt:16.8px;color:#000;line-height:1.2"><p style="margin:0;font-size:14px;mso-line-height-alt:16.8px"><strong>Issue 21, 10 October<span style="color:#000000;"> 2022</span></strong></p></div></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="row row-3" align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tbody><tr><td><table class="row-content stack" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;border-radius:0;color:#000;width:800px" width="800"><tbody><tr><td class="column column-1" width="100%" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;font-weight:400;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:5px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0"><table class="divider_block block-1" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tr><td class="pad"><div class="alignment" align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" width="100%" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tr><td class="divider_inner" style="font-size:1px;line-height:1px;border-top:1px solid #bbb"><span> </span></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="row row-4" align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tbody><tr><td><table class="row-content stack" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;color:#000;width:800px" width="800"><tbody><tr><td class="column column-1" width="100%" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;font-weight:400;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:5px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0"><table class="heading_block block-1" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tr><td class="pad" style="text-align:center;width:100%"><h1 style="margin:0;color:#000;direction:ltr;font-family:Arial,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:24px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:120%;text-align:left;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"><span style="color: #7d2c49;"><strong>$375,000 fine for Unsupervised Apprentice Death</strong></span></h1></td></tr></table><table class="text_block block-2" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;word-break:break-word"><tr><td class="pad"><div style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif"><div class style="font-size:14px;font-family:Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;mso-line-height-alt:21px;color:#000;line-height:1.5"><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> A NSW business has recently been fined $375,000 after a newly-hired 18-year-old apprentice mechanic was killed while working unsupervised. The case points to the importance of supervision when vulnerable persons are present in the workplace, as well as appropriate safety inspections.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"><strong>Background</strong></p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">The apprentice was working for an auto electrical repair business, having been employed on 6 January 2020 as a first-year apprentice auto electrician, after completing school-based work experience in the workshop the year earlier.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> In the days leading up to his death, the apprentice had been working alongside the business’ director conducting electric repair work on a truck, which required the cabin to be raised. The vehicle was equipped with a cab tilt stay system (CTSS) comprised of a folding stay arm, spring-loaded lever and a manually installable lock pin. The pin needed to be inserted into the stay arm to prevent the cab from falling in the event of inadvertent contact with the lever.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> On the day of the incident, 5 days after the apprentice joined the business, the director needed to leave the workshop and instructed the apprentice to perform some odd jobs while he was away. Upon completing the jobs, the apprentice continued working on the truck's cabin and accidentally touched the lever, causing the cabin to fall and crush him. The apprentice died of mechanical asphyxiation.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">Initially the director assumed that the vehicle was not fitted with a lock pin, due to the truck's age. On subsequent inspection of the truck's CTSS, a lock pin was found to be present but not inserted, and the cab could easily fall when the spring-loaded lever was disengaged.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"><strong> </strong></p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> <strong>Court determination</strong></p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">NSW District Court found that the business "did not provide any information to [the apprentice] about hazards associated with working under the truck's raised cab and the controls to ensure his safety, particularly the need to insert the lock pin into the stay arm to prevent the cab falling due to inadvertent contact" with its spring-loaded lever.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">The business was fined $375,000, after a 25 per cent discount for its early plea of guilty to breaching sections of the NSW <em>Work Health and Safety Act 2011</em>, in failing to ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers, and exposing a worker to a risk of serious injury or death through that failure.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> Importantly, the Judge found that prior to 2020, multiple safety alerts had been released reminding workers and businesses to properly engage and check all safety mechanisms before undertaking maintenance work on vehicles and machinery. The judge noted that these alerts warned workers to "never work under or near vehicles that do not have a secondary support or safety system in place".</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">"[The business] did not undertake a risk assessment of the risks associated with works to be done on the truck, particularly working beneath the raised cab," the judge noted.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> "[The director] did not inspect the stay arm to determine if it was fitted with a lock pin, however, he was aware of lock pins as a control measure to guard against the risk.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">"Had [the business] inspected the CTSS, [the director] would have identified that it was fitted with a lock pin to be inserted prior to undertaking work beneath the raised cab.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">The judge further commented that the risk associated with working underneath the raised cabin of a tilt cab truck is glaringly obvious and that there were simple, available and straightforward steps which could have been taken to immediately avoid the risk.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> Of particular importance to the determination was that the apprentice was young and had been left, unsupervised and with no other persons present, for some hours. In determining the penalty, the judge commented that "The risks were so obvious and the potential consequences catastrophic. That is a message that needs to be made very clear to all industries, not just motor repairs, that a blatant disregard for the safety of a vulnerable worker will not be tolerated."</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"><strong>Lessons for members</strong></p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">While the case occurred in NSW, it is very likely that a similar outcome would have been reached had it occurred in QLD. Additionally, in QLD, it is likely they would have also faced charges of industrial manslaughter.</p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> It is important to ensure young and vulnerable employees are appropriately supervised, and that the level of supervision is heightened when there are obvious heightened risks to the health and safety of the employee. Common workplace items and systems within the Road Freight Industry that increase safety risks include power tools, high voltage and complex electrical equipment and moving plant, like forklifts and jacks. Additional care is needed to</p><ul style="line-height:1.5;mso-line-height-alt:21px"><li style="text-align:justify">monitor how an employee will interact with these items, to</li><li style="text-align:justify">determine what they must be educated in to interact with the items,</li><li style="text-align:justify">decide whether interaction is required at all.</li></ul><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> Additionally, it is always important to conduct appropriate vehicle inspections before operating the vehicle or, in the case of mechanics, working on those vehicles. It is the responsibility of the business to ensure check are completed, commonly through checklists. Should an incident occur, it will ultimately fall on the employer if they cannot demonstrate that an employee’s failure to complete a checklist and identify a risk is genuinely against normal business practice and expectations made of the employee. Audits of inspection checklists, both scheduled or random, are key getting compliance and reducing the risk that an employee is working in an unsafe environment. </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px"> </p><p style="margin:0;text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:21px">If you have any questions or concerns about this article, please contact Ezra Pyers, QTA Employment Relations Manager on phone: 07 3394 4388 | email: <a href="mailto:ezra@qta.com.au" style="text-decoration: underline; color: #cd2834;">ezra@qta.com.au</a></p></div></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table> <table class="row row-5" align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tbody><tr><td><table class="row-content stack" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;border-radius:0;color:#000;width:800px" width="800"><tbody><tr><td class="column column-1" width="100%" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0;font-weight:400;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:5px;border-top:0;border-right:0;border-bottom:0;border-left:0"><table class="divider_block block-1" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tr><td class="pad"><div class="alignment" align="center"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" width="100%" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tr><td class="divider_inner" style="font-size:1px;line-height:1px;border-top:1px solid #bbb"><span> </span></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table><table class="image_block block-2" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace:0;mso-table-rspace:0"><tr><td 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