Owners’ corporations of commercial premises have been put on notice after SafeWork NSW successfully prosecuted an owners’ corporation for failing to fix a faulty gate which killed a worker.
A 64-year-old male worker died on 12 June 2020 after the electric industrial entry gate weighing 260kg fell on him when he tried to manually open it. The 8.5-metre-long gate was damaged on 4 June 2020 after a van ran into it, pushing it off its tracks.
Although the body corporate gave approval for the gate repairs the day after the 4 June damage and a work order issued, the repairs were not treated as urgent.
It is the first time a corporation of a strata scheme at an industrial complex has been found guilty of this type of offence under the Work Health and Safety Act NSW 2011. They were fined $225,000, plus costs. The maximum penalty is $1.73 million.
The judge concluded that, “as the owner of the common property, which included the gate, it had the power as well as the obligation to make the site safe.”
In July 2023, Maluko Pty Ltd, the worker’s employer, was convicted and fined $375,000 in relation to this incident. The company had pleaded guilty for failing to comply with its duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers.
Read more: SafeWork NSW First conviction of an owners corporation over industrial gate fatality