A manufacturer of electrical switchboards was found guilty of failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment in breach of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. after two workers were seriously injured when they fell from a scissor lift.

In the incident which occurred on 25 February 2013, the two workers were in a scissor type elevated work platform while carrying out tests at a height of about ten metres. This testing involved dropping a test weight down a vertical tube onto a sample of cladding and determining the suitability of the cladding to withstand impacts and penetration from debris.

One of the workers had tied the 46 kilogram test weight to the handrails of the scissor lift and raised the scissor lift in order to drop the weight down the tube. The other employee was ordered by a supervisor to stand on the opposite side of the platform to act as a counterbalance.

At the this time, a group of workers who were welding a steel frame in another section of the factory had activated the overhead travelling crane using a wireless remote control., causing the overhead crane to collide with the platform and tip it over.

One of the injured workers rode in the platform basket to the ground, while the other injured worker managed to grab the crane as it passed overhead and was left hanging from it for a few seconds, before he too fell to the ground. As a result both workers suffered serious injuries.

After the incident, the company’s sole Director conceded that with hindsight a Job Safety Analysis or some form of hazard assessment should have been done in these circumstances. In handing down the penalty, the Magistrate said the nature of the hazard was obvious and posed a serious risk of injury or death. The company was fined $180,000 and ordered pay costs of $784 when convicted on August 4, 2015.

Source: Worksafe WA