On 21 August 2024, in the Southport Magistrates Court, the defendant pleaded guilty to two offences under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

The defendant’s offending concerned an incident which occurred on 19 February 2022, at a marina that the defendant maintained. The marina included berths, moorings, walkways, pontoons and piers. At 3pm, on 19 February 2022, a group people walked along a walkway along the Marina. One person in the group fell approximately two metres through a gap between a gangway and the central jetty at the marina. The person fell onto the pontoon below the gangway, and was knocked unconscious and rolled into the water, floating face down. The person was rescued from the water but sustained injuries (including loss of consciousness, bruising and irritation from ingesting the water). The regulator was only notified of the incident, by the injured person, on 1 March 2022. The defendant had not notified the regulator, despite its legal obligation to do so immediately. The defendant had replaced a rope which covered the gap in the railing along the gangway with a metal chain following the incident, however the risk of falling from height through that gap remained. On 8 March 2022, the regulator’s investigators attended the marina and issued improvement notices which required the defendant to address the risk of persons falling from one level to another at the marina. The investigators returned on 14 March 2022, and located protective metal guarding which had been installed by the defendant across the gaps between the gangways and the central jetty.

The sentencing basis of the first offence was that the defendant should have, first, completed a risk assessment concerning the risk of people falling from height at a marina the defendant maintained; second, installed barriers which prevented people from falling from height at the same Marina; and third, trained and instructed its marina workers about the identification and management of hazards.

The defendant’s failure to do those things exposed an individual to a risk of death or serious injury. That risk eventuated on 19 February 2022 when a person was injured after falling through a gap between a gangway and the central jetty of a marina the defendant maintained.

The sentencing basis of the second offence was that the defendant failed to notify the regulator about the incident which occurred on 19 February 2022.

Magistrate Finger took into account the defendant’s early plea of guilty and accepted that the defendant was a good corporate citizen (by reference to its lack of prior convictions). His Honour reduced the penalty he would have otherwise imposed to take into account that the defendant’s plea of guilty and the measures the defendant took after the incident (in response to notices issued by investigators).

Magistrate Finger considered that general deterrence was important, and that the defendant was obliged to consider the risks at its workplace and reduce the potential consequences arising from those risks as much as possible. His Honour noted that other customers, including elderly people could have also been affected by the risk that was not addressed by the defendant.

Ultimately, his Honour imposed a single fine of $70,000 to cover both offences. No convictions were recorded.

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