Jeftomson Logistics Pty Ltd operates a vegetable and fruit cannery in Mooroopna and engaged a sub-contractor to design the refrigeration system and complete installation work for their plant-room’s pipework. The sub-contractor engaged another sub-contractor to complete some plumbing works at the workplace. Jeftomson Logistics did not have an official OHS officer and left the assessment and control of risks to the sub-contractors to manage and implement.
In March 2022 the sub-contractors were performing pipework on the plant-room roof and using an Elevating Work Platform (EWP) to access the roof. Four employees entered the EWP to descent from the roof before it ceased operation next to a platform due to its overload feature activating.
Despite the platform being engineer designed and the engineer specifying that the flooring was to be made of ‘webforge’ – a reinforced material with appropriate load bearing properties – the employer instead use particleboard for temporary flooring.
One of the employees climbed out of the EWP to lighten the load, climbing over the EWP railing and over the platform railing. As the employee stepped onto the platform, the floor gave way and the worker fell almost four meters into a skip bin, sustaining severe injuries to one of his feet
The particleboard material used for the temporary flooring of the platform was inappropriate and was in a deteriorated condition from previous exposure to the weather. It was likely that the exposure to the weather caused a considerable loss of strength of the flooring, significantly reducing its capacity.
The court found that it was reasonably practicable for the Jeftomson Logistics to have ensured that the flooring of the platform was made from an appropriate material and/or to have had an engineer determine the safe load capacity of the platform.
It was also determined that there was a foreseeable risk of a fall from height while working on the roof and it was reasonable to expect the employer to reduce the risk by installing fall protection, such as guard railing on the roof to comply with the duty to maintain a safe workplace and safe systems of work.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria