Australia’s largest privately owned construction company, J Hutchinson Pty Ltd (JHB), has entered into a $1 million enforceable undertaking to improve their company’s health and safety performance after an incident that left a visiting young worker with life threatening injuries.
In August 2022 on a JHB controlled construction site at Rosebud Plaza a delivery truck driver, employed by a third party, was delivering large electrical switchboards for installation as part of the shopping centre renovations. The truck driver’s 21-year-old son was assisting with spotter-type activities.
While the driver’s son was standing on the back of the truck and removing the straps securing the switchboards, a forklift driver employed by JHB approached to unload the switchboards and contacted the unsecured load. One of the switchboards and the driver’s son fell to the ground. The switchboard landed on the young man’s head and torso resulting in life-threatening crush injuries.
JHB was charged with a breach of s.26 of the OHS Act for their failure to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that the workplace and the means of entering and leaving it are safe and without risks to health. A simple traffic management plan could have prevented the incident from occurring.
To avoid prosecution JHB proposed and entered into an Enforceable Undertaking that involves seven undertakings to be completed withing 2 years. JHB committed to:
- partner with Construction Work Health and Safety Research at RMIT to develop Interactive Visual Safety Material
- partner with Simonds Group to develop Safety Training Material specifically tailored to the volume residential building sector in Victoria
- collaborate with Intersafe to develop a ‘Lessons Learnt’ Animation
- consult with People and Risk, and RMIT to develop a Safety culture program course, addressing the skills required to identify, effectively communicate and manage risks within a changing and dynamic workplace
- join the RMIT Safety and Health Innovation Network to participate in industry Safety and Health Innovation initiatives
- engage a multi-media marketing team to develop and coordinate a Media and Marketing Campaign
- make a Charity Donation ($100,000) to Beyond Blue’s NASBO program, a guided self-help mental health coaching program dedicated to small (sole traders or up to 20 employees) Victorian businesses
Should JHB fail to delivery on their Enforceable Undertaking the charges may be re-instated and WorkSafe may continue the prosecution.
It is disappointing to see a company of this size and resources fail to implement such a basic safety measure as a traffic management plan on their worksites. The estimated cost of the enforceable undertaking is significantly more than the cost of ensuring that a safe system of work was in place to prevent this incident that led to a young man suffering such shocking and traumatic injuries.
Read more: $1 million safety spend after forklift traffic failure | WorkSafe Victoria