On 6 August 2025, a stormwater treatment manufacturer was found guilty after trial, and sentenced in the Richlands Magistrates Court for breaching section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), having failed to comply with its primary health and safety duty.

The defendant operated a business in the supply, installation and maintenance of various stormwater treatment assets, including drain filters. The drain filters were installed within stormwater drains and operated as a catchment system, with filtration bags catching pollution in the stormwater drain prior to entering the stormwater system.

On 8 March 2023, two workers were tasked to empty the filter bags. The workers swept around the drains, leaned into them, removed the bags, emptied them and put them back in. One worker was on his hands and knees on the outside edge of the drain and put weight on the drain filter when it collapsed, causing the worker to fall headfirst 3.5 metres to the bottom of the drain. He was not wearing any fall prevention device at the time, nor were any other controls in place to prevent a fall. He sustained a fractured skull, bleed on the brain, and a fractured shoulder.

The drain filter failed due to a fault within the screws. The screws should have been able to easily withstand the weight of the product and the worker, but these screws had an undetectable manufacturing defect.

Workers were not provided information or instruction to utilise controls to prevent the risk of fall when cleaning the drain filter. Workers were not familiar with the defendant’s Safety Management Plan or Policies and Procedures handbook, or installation guide. The defendant had fall restraints available at the time but were not used for the drain filter maintenance.

Magistrate Shearer found the defendant guilty after a half day trial. His Honour was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant failed to comply with their statutory duty because, while the manufacturing defect in the screws was not within their control, the possibility of the drain filter or the concrete to which it was affixed failing was always open. The defendant relied on the drain filter as an infallible barrier to fall, when the risk of falling in the drain must always be foreseeable. It was an obvious risk of death or serious injury if the drain filter failed, knowing the drains had depths over 3 metres.

In imposing a sentence, his Honour regarded the remediation steps taken immediately after the incident as a mitigating factor.

The Magistrate imposed a fine of $70,000 and exercised his discretion to not record a conviction.

OWHSP contact: enquiries@owhsp.qld.gov.au