PCBU INVESTS HEAVILY IN SAFETY MEASURES, INCLUDING DRONES

Adelaide Brighton Cement Ltd is spending almost $1 million on safety measures to avoid prosecution after a worker fell from a platform and was seriously injured. The safety measures include piloting a drone program to prevent fall-from-height incidents.

SafeWork SA, the regulator, accepted the significant financial commitment as a preferred enforcement option over prosecution.

In May 2021, a worker at the company’s Klein Point Quarry fell off an elevated fixed platform while replacing bolts during a maintenance shutdown, landing on the concrete ground four metres below.

The injured worker sustained a traumatic brain injury, fractured skull, several broken vertebrae, hearing loss and post-trauma amnesia.

The two top railings of the fixed platform had been removed during the reassembly phase of the maintenance project, creating a live edge.

Adelaide Brighton has committed a minimum of $876,545 to enforceable undertakings, including:

  • $25,000 for installing cameras across operations to reduce worker access to heights, improve supervision, and mitigate isolated work risks
  • Piloting remote technology like drones as part of the camera program to eliminate fall-from-height risks
  • Allocating $100,000 for a specialized rock breaker to aid the injured worker's return, compatible with his hearing loss
  • Allocating $150,000 to redesign the crusher for safer top access through remote doors
  • Investing $110,000 in an additional site supervisor for Klein Point, primarily focused on WHS responsibilities to enhance inspections and safety leadership
  • Critical risk control audits at all sites, costing $79,000
  • Replace A-frame ladders with safer platform ladders at a cost of $139,000
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