City of Palmerston
| Date accepted | 6 November 2023 |
|---|---|
| Proposed expenditure | $76,500 |
Incident
On 13 February 2020, a worker was operating an amphibious weed harvester on a lake in Durack. During operation, the craft tipped and capsized, causing the worker to be briefly trapped underneath. The worker managed to escape from the capsized craft, but was injured in the incident.
Alleged breach
It was alleged that the City of Palmerston failed to comply with its health and safety duties under Sections 19(1)(a) and 21(2) of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011 (the Act), and its obligations under the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011.
Summary of work health and safety undertaking
An undertaking given by the City of Palmerston in relation to the alleged contraventions has been accepted by the Regulator as an enforceable undertaking under Part 11 of the Act.
The City of Palmerston has committed to a range of activities to improve health and safety in the workplace, and deliver health and safety initiatives to the wider community. These activities include:
- Installing an emergency communication device and a lifebuoy on the weed harvester trailers, and making these equipment readily accessible for the public to use during emergency.
- Providing workers operating the craft with waterproof mobile phone covers to ensure they can still call for emergency help in the event their phone gets wet while at work.
- Developing and displaying posters and information sheets at its maintenance facility to remind staff of the risks of working around water. working alone and the safe use of the weed harvester.
- Sharing with other local councils its Working Alone Procedure, which was introduced as a result of the incident, and engaging with them to discuss the procedure for their benefit.
- Advising other local councils of the risks and consequences of modifying a waterborne craft.
- Holding two water safety events with a focus on educating the industry and community about water safety.
The amount spent on work health and safety activities following the incident was around $10,000 – $20,000 (not included below).
The financial commitment of the activities proposed in the undertaking are:
- Workers, the workplace and the industry – $16,500; and
- the community – $60,000.
The financial commitments to the undertaking have a total minimum expenditure of $76,500.
Reasons for regulator acceptance
The regulator accepted the enforceable undertaking under Section 216 of the Act and is satisfied that this undertaking offers significant and ongoing commitments to achieve improved work health and safety outcomes and compliance beyond what is required by the law. The regulator believes the enforceable undertaking offers a similar deterrent to a successful legal proceeding and will result in a tangible improvement to safety in the workplace, industry and the wider Territory community.
NT WorkSafe has commenced monitoring the enforceable undertaking to ensure the activities are implemented and will continue to do so until the undertaking is completely discharged.