Van Dyke Pty Ltd, a drilling and blasting company working on a development site in Wollert has been fined $6,000 and received no conviction under s.45 of the Dangerous Goods Act, after a trench blasting incident that saw a nearby resident injured.
Despite developing a Blast Management Plan and a Safe Work Method Statement in preparation for a trench blast at the Wollert site in January 2023, Van Dyke failed to prepare the blastholes in accordance with the plan, resulting in the blast failure.
Van Dyke employees, under direction of management, prepared too few blast holes and blast holes that were 30cm shorter than required to properly contain the blast. This was identified by the contractor who was engaged to provide the blasting substance was filling the blast holes. When the blasts were detonated, with insufficient hole depths for stemming the forces of the blast, debris was scattered up to 200m from the site, damaging neighbouring homes and vehicles, and striking one resident in the face.
It was determined that the projection of debris, known as flyrock, occurred because of shortfalls in the preparation of the blast holes. The plan called for 400 blastholes, but only 348 were prepared; the depth allowed for stemming was 2.5m, but the prepared holes were 2.2m. As a result, the planned exclusion zone of 150m was insufficient, with flyrock identified 200m from the blast site.
Read more: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/prosecution-result-summaries-enforceable-undertakings