AST Services entered a plea of guilty in the District Court of New South Wales to a breach of section 19/32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 for failing to ensure as far as reasonably practicable the health and safety of workers.      

The court heard the incident occurred after heavy steel pipes were bundled onto a contracted truck driver’s flatbed trailer by one of AST’s forklift operators at the company’s previously owned site at Port Botany.

While the front of the flatbed trailer had support cradles and stanchions (upright bars, posts, or frames that form a type of support or barrier), the rear of the trailer did not have the support cradles or stanchions required to safely transport pipes as recommended by the Load Restraint Guide 2018 published by the National Transport Commission.

Chains were used to secure the pipes to the trailer and the load was visually inspected by the forklift driver and the truck driver before the allotted cargo was taken to a site at Newcastle.

While the truck driver was removing chains from the rear passenger side of the trailer’s load, a bundle of three pipes weighing about 720 kilograms fell and seriously injured the truck driver.

The man sustained a concussion and crush injuries to both legs, necessitating the amputation of the right leg below the knee. Reconstructive surgery and skin grafts were required for the driver’s left leg.

Risk was known

NSW District Court Judge Andrew Scotting said the risk posed by the pipes falling from the truck during loading and unloading and/or transport was known to AST and while it took steps to eliminate and minimise the risk, those steps were incomplete and did not adequately control the risk to the requisite standard.

The risk was likely to result in harm if adequate precautions were not taken, and the consequences of the risk included a risk of death or serious injury.

“The available steps to eliminate and minimise the risk were the subject of guidance material in the form of the Load Restraint Guide. However, the content of the Load Restraint Guide did not expressly refer to the method that the offender was using to load the bundled pipes in this case,” Judge Scotting said.

“AST believed that by bundling the pipes in bundles of three in a triangular cross-section, the bundles could be stacked so that they effectively interlocked with each other, and it had not experienced a problem in using that method previously. 

“That method, whilst it appeared to the offender to be logically sound, had not been reviewed by a competent person such as an engineer to determine its suitability. By its plea, [AST] accepted that there were other reasonably practicable steps it could have taken to eliminate or minimise the risk that were relatively simple and inexpensive.”

The court heard that AST Services was a good corporate citizen, had work plans in place at the time of the incident and had demonstrated remorse. The business has subsequently ceased transporting pipes and substantially downsized its operations.

AST Services Pty Ltd has a right to appeal the sentence.

Department of Customer Service BRD Investigations and Enforcement Executive Director Valerie Griswold said safety must be improved on work sites across NSW to reduce injuries.

Safe Work NSW reminded eligible small business owners in NSW including contractors, that they may apply for a $1000 rebate to purchase safety items. The rebate may be used to purchase safety equipment for trucks.     

SafeWork NSW v AST Services Pty Ltd [2022] NSWDC 293