A construction company has been ordered to pay a $300,000 fine after a workplace accident that took place during the construction of apartments at 37 Virginia Street North Wollongong. Photo: Google Maps.
A construction company has been fined $300,000 after a worker on a North Wollongong job site was zapped by 11,000-volt overhead powerlines.
Justice Jane Paingakulam found Segcon Constructions Pty Ltd had failed to comply with their workplace health and safety duties on a jobsite at Virginia Street in 2022.
Segcon had engaged Civil 1 Pty Ltd to undertake piling works at the site.
Their employee, William Leach suffered an electric shock after a 16-metre-long steel reinforcement cage buckled and fell onto two 11,000-volt overhead powerlines.
He survived; however, the court heard this was due to sheer luck.
Piling works were conducted by Joel Divertie and Mr Leach adjacent to the Virginia Street frontage of the site.
Mr Leach did not hold a high risk work licence as a dogger, rigger or authorised safety observer or “spotter”. Mr Divertie did not hold a high risk work licence as a dogger or rigger.
The court heard they were not given any specific instruction on how to install the reinforcement cages.
On the first day working at the site, Mr Divertie was required to determine for himself where to attach the lifting sling from the piling rig to the reinforcement cage.
Civil 1 workers ultimately devised their own method for carrying out the piling works through trial and error.
At about 2 pm on 5 December 2022 the excavator was lifting some cages and dragging damaged cages from the top.
Segcon contractor Louis Seghabi fixed these damaged cages. Mr Divertie did not know that cages were being fixed before they were lifted.
After attaching the sling approximately five metres from the top of the first cage to be installed that day, Mr Divertie lifted it into a vertical position, dragging it about 15 metres.
Mr Divertie then lifted the cage a metre off the ground so it was not dragging and started dropping the bottom of the cage into a hole.
Mr Leach was positioned about 500 millimetres from the tail end of the cage and was guiding it into the hole.
Mr Divertie and Mr Leach estimate that the piling rig mast and the cage were about three-and-a-half to four metres from the overhead powerlines.
As Mr Divertie was moving the cage into the hole, he and Mr Leach heard what sounded like welds breaking and rings sliding down the bars of the cage.
Mr Divertie stopped lowering the cage into the hole, while Mr Leach let go of the cage and took a big step back.
The cage buckled, flexed over at the top and hit the 11,000-volt powerlines above.
The hole had been pumped full of concrete and the ground on which Mr Leach was standing was wet and muddy.
Although Mr Leach did not have hold of the cage when it contacted the powerlines, he felt a surge of electricity go through him.
Entry or exit points were found on his boots. He was taken to Wollongong Hospital via ambulance and discharged following an examination.
He returned to work the next day.
Since the incident Segcon has introduced a number of safety measures, and once the Virginia St construction was complete has not undertaken any further projects.
The company had no prior convictions.
Justice Paingakulam found the company was “deeply remorseful” for the incident, and was unlikely to reoffend in future.
She said that had to be balanced against the fact the company must have been aware of the “obvious risk” at the time and the seriousness of the offence.
The maximum penalty for a breach like this one is $1.8 million.
Justice Paingakulam said an appropriate fine in this instance would be $400,000; however, in recognition of Segcon’s guilty plea that was reduced by 25 per cent to a $300,000 fine.
Half of that fine was directed to Safe Work Australia as the prosecutor, and Segcon was also ordered to pay the prosecutor’s costs of the proceedings
