On 1 August 2025, a metal fabrication and welding company was sentenced in the Brisbane Magistrates Court for breaching section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (‘the Act’), having failed to comply with its primary health and safety duty.

The defendant specialised in cutting, rolling, and bending steel. The defendant owned an Accurpress press brake. This press was operated by a Delem controller and fitted with a foot pedal, both of which were separate to the press and could be moved away from the pressing platform. The required angles of the bend were required to be entered manually by operators. The Delem controller recognised if the manually input parameters were incompatible with the punch and die used; but it was not capable of identifying the type of steel being pressed; and therefore, unable to alert the operator if the angle was not able to be bent with a certain type of steel. Pressing steel could only be done by workers holding the steel in place in the press.

On 9 March 2023, two workers were tasked to press two plates of quench and tempered steel (QT Steel), a steel they had not pressed before. The first plate was pressed without incident. While pressing the second QT plate, the plate fractured along the bend and a 46kg section of steel was ejected from the press and struck one worker in the head and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He died three days later. The second worker was struck in the head by ejected shrapnel causing only a scratch.

The investigation revealed the primary worker input an angle of 30 degrees sharper than intended. The workers were not familiar with QT steel and were unaware of the different properties of this type of steel.

The defendant was sentenced on the basis it failed to ensure it:

1. Drafted and implemented a safe operation procedure for the Work, detailing how to perform the Work for different types of steel, including ‘QT steel’; and
2. Trained workers and provided instruction and supervision in relation to:
   
   1. Understanding the properties of different types of steel; and
   2. How to perform the Work for different types of steel.

In sentencing the defendant, Acting Magistrate Turra considered the offence towards the high end of objective seriousness. The simple controls that were implemented post-incident could not be considered complex or burdensome. His Honour had regard for the need for general deterrence and denunciation.

The Magistrate had regard to the features in mitigation and reduced the penalty that otherwise might be imposed: early plea of guilty, no prior convictions, cooperation with the WHS investigation, demonstrated remorse, good corporate citizen, and acknowledged the post incident remediation.

His Honour imposed a fine of $300,000, and exercised his discretion to not record a conviction.

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