Clayton company Skill Tiling Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $35,000 after a jib crane installed by one of their directors collapsed and landed on a truck. Employees were in the area, but no injuries were reported.
The Skill Tiling director, with no relevant training or qualifications in the installation or commissioning of jib cranes, installed the equipment at the beginning of May 2023. Despite Australian Standards requiring that jib cranes undergo pre-operational inspection and testing, no-load operation and testing, and load testing, no such testing was conducted.
The director also did not assess the concrete slab to which the jib crane was secured to ensure that it was fit for purpose, and he secured the crane to the concrete slab with only eight of the required twelve base plate bolts.
Skill Tiling employees began to use the jib crane immediately after it was installed.
Two weeks later, a contractor of Skill Tiling attempted to unload two stone slabs, weighing in total 440kg, from a delivery truck. As the slabs were lifted the jib crane detached from the concrete slab, fell forward and landed on the truck.
A WorkSafe Inspector visited the site and noted that the crane that had been installed by the director had no design installation information, not all bolts had been installed, no testing had been conducted prior to commissioning, and no safe system of work had been developed for the task – all of which exposed nearby workers to the risk of serious injury or death.
It was also noted that two other cranes at the workplace had been correctly installed and certified by a competent person, indicating that Skill Tiling was aware of the safety requirements.
An Improvement Notice was issued for failing to provide a safe system of work for the installation and commissioning of jib cranes, and the company was charged with breaching sections 21(1) and 21(2)(a) of the OHS Act for their failure to provide a system of work that was safe and without risks to health. The maximum penalty for a breach of s.21 of the OHS Act in May 2023 was approximately $1.66M.
The Court noted the crane was destined to fall and the likelihood of an injury occurring was high. Although the crane and its load did not fall from a great height, the weight of the crane and the stone slabs could have killed or seriously injured employees.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria