Comcare v John Holland Rail Pty Ltd [2009] FCA 771 (Friction Saw Burns)
Issue
An employee of John Holland Rail Pty Ltd (John Holland Rail) suffered serious burn injuries in an accident that occurred on 15 November 2007 near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The employee noticed that the friction saw he was operating was low on fuel and requested a co-worker to bring fuel in a jerry can. When the co-worker returned with the jerry can, he opened it and fuel spurted onto the employee and a recently finished weld and ignited. As a result, the employee sustained second degree burns to 20 per cent of his body and the co-worker suffered minor burns.
Investigation
Comcare’s investigation of the incident found that John Holland Rail had breached section 16(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 (Cth) (the Act) by failing to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect the health and safety at work of its employees, in that it failed to take all reasonably practicable steps to:
1. provide and maintain a working environment, including plant and systems of work, that was safe and without risks to health to its employees;
2. ensure the safety and absence of risks at work to the health of its employees in connection with the use, handling, storage or transport of substances; and
3. provide its employees with the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to enable them to perform their work in a manner that was safe and without risk to their health.
Outcome
On 28 November 2008, Comcare filed proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia (Western Australia) against John Holland Rail seeking a declaration of contravention for the breach of section 16(1) of the Act.
On 20 July 2009, Justice Barker declared that John Holland Rail had contravened section 16(1) of the Act by reason of the failures outlined above and its failure to ensure the safety at work of, and the absence of risk at work to the health of its employees in connection with the use and handling of plant.
John Holland Rail was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $124,960 (1136 penalty units) for the breach and Comcare’s legal costs.
A copy of this decision is available at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2009/771.html.