SafeWork NSW v McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Limited (No 2)

In the matter of SafeWork NSW v McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Limited (No 2), the court addressed a prosecution related to work health and safety under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000. The dispute arose from an incident where an unrestrained steel headstock fell on a rigger working on a barge, resulting in serious injuries. SafeWork NSW alleged that McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Limited, the defendant, failed in its duty of care concerning the risk of death or serious injury to its workers.

The primary legal issues before the court involved determining whether the defendant owed a duty of care to ensure the health and safety of workers, whether there was a failure to comply with that duty, and whether such failure exposed workers to a risk of death or serious injury. The court examined the reasonable practicability of mitigating the risk, the likelihood of the risk materialising, the defendant's knowledge or what it ought reasonably to have known regarding the risk, and the adequacy of the risk assessment and safety measures implemented.

The court concluded that the elements of the offence had been proven beyond reasonable doubt. It found that the defendant had failed to conduct an adequate risk assessment for landing the headstocks on the barge and working upon them, did not clear the deck space to lay the headstocks down, and did not conduct a visual inspection of the barge despite a contractual obligation to do so. These failures exposed workers to a risk of serious injury, which the defendant ought to have reasonably foreseen and mitigated. Consequently, the court found McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Limited guilty of the charges.

The court ordered that the matter would be listed for a sentence hearing on a date convenient to the parties. The decision underscored the importance of rigorous risk assessments and adherence to safety protocols in high-risk work environments, highlighting the significant consequences for failing to meet these obligations.