In November 2023 Dennis Jones Engineering Pty Ltd (DJE) and sole director Dennis Jones were sentenced for the 2021 serious injury of an apprentice. The company was convicted and fined a record $2.1 million for recklessly engaging in conduct that placed a person in danger of serious injury. Mr Jones was convicted and fined $140,000 for failing to provide or maintain safe systems of work and was ordered to complete 600 hours of unpaid community work under a 5-year Community Corrections Order.
Mr Jones and DJE appealed the penalties, arguing that they were manifestly excessive.
The bench of the Victorian Court of Appeals upheld the $2.1 million penalty against DJE, which is approximately 58% of the available maximum penalty. Mr Jones’ $140,000 fine was quashed and his CCO reduced to three years and 200 hours of unpaid community work.
In October 2021 Mr Jones, assisted by a second-year apprentice fitter and turner, was operating a CNC lathe when a piece of stainless-steel pipe that was being machined bent and whipped, causing the apprentice to be struck on the left side of his head. The apprentice suffered very serious injuries requiring him to be placed in an induced coma and airlifted to hospital where he underwent skull reconstruction surgery and the insertion of a titanium plate. He suffered a traumatic brain injury which led to him developing speech aphasia, loss of the use of his hand, and balance and walking issues. He now also experiences seizures and regularly feels fatigued.
The WorkSafe investigation found that despite having several control measures readily available on site to eliminate or control the risk, including a ‘steady’ device that had been brought over to the lathe for this specific task, Mr Jones chose to put his apprentice at risk by not using them, instead instructing the apprentice to manually steady the pipe. Mr Jones was aware of the risks presented by protruding pipes when using lathes and had experienced a similar incident in 2012.
Read more: Dennis Jones Engineering Pty Ltd v The King; Jones v The King [2025] VSCA 76 (11 April 2025)
Record $2.1 million fine over apprentice's serious head injury | WorkSafe Victoria