Date August 24, 2015
Michael Inman
Courts reporter for The Canberra Times.
A Canberra worker was clinically dead for several minutes before he could be revived by medical staff after he received an electric shock at the Canberra Hospital redevelopment.
Industrial Magistrate Lorraine Walker fined Canberra project management firm, Iqon, $15,000 for failing to comply with a safety duty.
The ACT Industrial Court could not sentence a second company, Nexus Electrical, as it has gone into liquidation since the July 2011 accident.
Ms Walker entered a plea of not guilty on the behalf of Nexus Electrical to a charge of failing to comply with a safety duty, thereby causing harm to another in circumstances where it was negligent about whether the failure would cause serious harm.
Advertisement
A quirk of legislation means the defunct company must be committed to the ACT Supreme Court as no there are no longer company representatives available to elect to have the matter discharged in the lower court.
Court documents said the accident happened during preliminary works – which included the refurbishment and upgrade of a numbers of hospital facilities - towards the construction of the new women's and children's hospital.
The territory hired Iqon to project manage the works, with its duties to include coordinating the activities of consultants and contractors.
The work required two fuel tanks - the largest 800 litres - to be removed from a basement, then decommissioned and replaced.
Court documents said electrical cables had been clearly visible on the walls and ceiling near the basement, and entered the concrete slab that formed the ceiling.
The court heard Iqon's foreman did not have certification to work in confined spaces.
The territory hired Nexus Electrical to remove the tanks, who then engaged the victim, through another company, as a mechanical fitter to work on the tanks and pipe work.
A safe work method form, submitted by Nexus Electrical, was rejected in February 2011 because it failed to identify how the tanks would be removed or associated risks.
But said a resubmitted form in June was virtually unchanged.
Nexus planned to drill holes in the concrete ceiling in order to lift the tanks out of position.
On July 1, about 8.30am, the victim drilled a hole in the ceiling and began to install a bolt when he received an electric shock.
Two other workers provided CPR until a hospital emergency team arrived and brought him back to life using a defibrillator.
The man had been dead for several minutes, and spent a number of days in intensive care in an induced coma.
The prosecution said Nexus and Iqon had breached its duty to ensure a safe workplace.
Court documents said Iqon had failed to adhere to risk management processes, and allowed workers on site who had not been signed in.
But the prosecution did not allege Iqon's breach caused the accident.
During sentencing submissions on Monday morning, Iqon's lawyer, Dan Shillington, asked the magistrate to not impose a conviction.
Mr Shillington argued Iqon did not have exclusive control of the worksite at the time of the accident, and had since had undertaken a restructure and introduced a director of safety.
He said these positive steps and a guilty plea showed remorse and a commitment to ensure there would be no repeats in the future.
The barrister said Iqon had committed to the substantial overhaul rather than go into liquidation to avoid prosecution, as other Canberra companies have done in the past.
"It's faced this prosecution head on," he said.
Mr Shillington said the Iqon culpability had been at the low end of seriousness.
Ms Walker fined Iqon $15,000, saying the sentence would acknowledge the harm done to the victim act as general deterrence to other companies.
Nexus Electrical will appear in the Supreme Court later this week.
Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/company-fined-after-worker-electrocuted-at-canberra-hospital-work-site-20150824-gj6a4e.html#ixzz3jrzS7WXO
Follow us: @canberratimes on Twitter | CanberraTimes on Facebook