$840K fine issued over apprentice death

Following the death of a Riverland apprentice, a manufacturing business has been fined a record $840,000.

SafeWork SA prosecuted JMA Engineering Pty Ltd after an investigation found the company was reckless in its failure to protect its workers from the risk of death or serious injury as prescribed under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012.

The incident took place in February 2021 when the cable on a gantry crane failed, causing a stainless steel tank weighing more than three tonnes to fall on a worker, crushing him to death.

JMA Engineering was sentenced in the South Australian Employment Court on 15 November 2024.

A SafeWork SA investigation found the gantry crane, and others operated by the company, had not been subjected to regular maintenance.

Where maintenance had occurred, it did not comply with the relevant codes of practice. An offer by another company to include the crane in a servicing run scheduled for the Riverland two months before the incident was not taken up by JMA Engineering.

The company was charged with a Category 1 offence against section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act. Production Manager David Pahl was also charged with a Category 2 offence against section 32 of the Act. Both pleaded guilty and convictions were recorded.

“This is a significant outcome and the first of its type under South Australian WHS legislation where a defendant has been sentenced for a Category 1 offence where the risk of death manifested from reckless conduct,” said Glenn Farrell, Executive Director at SafeWork SA.

“This is identified in the judgement by the imposition of a record fine that should send a strong message that reckless behaviour that exposes workers to the risk of death will be punished accordingly.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Philipp Berezhnoy. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.