Record $975K fine follows 16-year-old labourer death

Over the 2023 death of a 16-year-old labourer, an industrial spray painting and sandblasting company has been dealt the biggest ever fine under Western Australia’s workplace safety and health laws.

The labourer, who assisted with spray painting and sandblasting, was killed in June 2023 when a steel beam weighing approximately 425 kg suspended from an overhead monorail system fell on his chest.

Having been primed and coated and left suspended to dry in the main spray booth, the steel beam was attached to the monorail at each end by S-hooks (fabricated steel hooks in an s-shape) connected to chain slings.

The labourer and three other workers were instructed to move the beams to another area where they were to be collected later in the day. The S-hooks deformed and straightened out under the load when the labourer was pushing the beam by hand, and the beam fell onto him, causing fatal injuries.

Lifting devices were routinely selected by workers at the company by a process of trial and error, and they were not required to determine the weight of the load prior to suspending it. The S-hooks did not have a known working load limit or rated capacity, and the weight was estimated via a visual inspection and whether it had been unloaded by hand or with a forklift.

WorkSafe WA inspectors had issued a Prohibition Notice to the company in March 2021, prohibiting the activity of working underneath suspended loads. While this notice did not relate to the monorail or S-hooks directly, WorkSafe WA stated that it did direct the company to the same risk, namely being crushed by falling objects while working under suspended loads.

The company pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker and was issued a global fine in the Perth Magistrates Court on 23 October 2025.

“The company had previously been issued a Prohibition Notice that had prohibited working under suspended loads, so there is no question they were aware of that risk, but the workplace had inadequate systems of work for managing it,” WorkSafe WA Commissioner Sally North said.

“Lifting devices are covered by an Australian Standard, and in a workplace such as this where heavy items are lifted and worked on frequently, it would be expected that the Standard’s strict control measures would be in place.

“Persons conducting a business or undertaking should conduct a thorough risk assessment of work activities involving the lifting of heavy items in consultation with workers and must put controls in place to reduce the risk of injury to workers.

“This was a particularly tragic incident as it involved the death of a very young worker. The substantial penalty is evidence of how seriously the courts view incidents of this nature.”

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