Tomlinson Glass Pty Ltd, of Bayswater, is a glass supplier that processes and delivers glass for installation. In March 2022 whilst unpacking a shipping container of glass packs an employee sustained multiple serious injuries after being pinned by a glass pack weighing 2.1 tonne.
The unloading of the glass packs required the employee to be inside the shipping container with the glass packs. After several packs had already been unloaded the employee cut a strap securing a glass pack without first attaching a chain to restrain the pack.
The glass pack fell onto the employee’s chest pinning him to the shipping container wall. A crane was used to remove the weight so that the employee could be rescued and taken to hospital by ambulance.
The employee sustained a broken nose, a broken wrist, a severed tendon in his left hand, a broken sternum, broken shoulders blades, a large laceration to the neck, collapsed lungs, and a number of broken ribs.
Tomlinson Glass had not conducted a risk assessment of the shipping container and glass packs or provided a safe system of work. They did not provide a propping tool to prevent the glass packs from falling and they did not provide instructions or training to employees about the risks of positioning themselves within the fall shadow of the glass packs.
The Ringwood Magistrates’ Court imposed a fine of $50,000 without conviction on Tomlinson Glass for the breached of s.21 of the OHS Act. The company no longer performs the task and now engages specialists to unload glass packs from shipping containers.
WorkSafe provides free information for employers to understand their duties under the OHS Act, and guidance on how to safely manage manual handling tasks, including the safe unloading of stone or other heavy slabs in the construction and manufacturing industries.
You can find more information about hazardous manual handling on our OHS Reps website, and further guidance in WorkSafe’s Compliance Code: Hazardous Manual Handling.
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