Big fine for crane crash
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A fine has been issued after a safety override sent a 60-tonne crane crashing into a factory roof.
A Victorian company has been fined $160,000 after disabling a crane's safety system, resulting in its collapse at a factory site in Dandenong South, narrowly missing two workers.
Misz Pty Ltd, trading as Steel and Precast Erectors, has been sentenced in the Melbourne County Court following an investigation by WorkSafe Victoria.
The company pleaded guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure workplace safety at the site under its control.
The incident, which occurred in June 2019, involved the use of a 60-tonne crane to lift prefabricated steel roof structures during construction works.
Weather conditions worsened during the lift, causing the crane to tilt. Its boom struck the roof of the building, and the load fell. Two riggers working from an elevated platform nearby, along with the crane operator, narrowly escaped injury.
WorkSafe’s investigation found that a bulldog clip had been placed on the override switch of the crane's safety system.
This action allowed the crane to operate beyond its safety parameters, without notifying the operator.
The court determined that it was “reasonably practicable” for the company to have ensured the crane's safety system remained active.
Had the system been functional, it would have alerted the operator that the load exceeded the crane's safe capacity, allowing corrective actions such as using a larger crane or delaying the lift until weather conditions improved.
“It is never acceptable to take shortcuts on safety, particularly when heavy machinery is involved and the consequences when something goes wrong can be absolutely catastrophic,” said Sam Jenkin, WorkSafe’s Executive Director of Health and Safety.
“Built-in safety mechanisms serve a very real purpose, and it is simply unacceptable for any duty holder to treat them as an optional extra that can be switched off for the sake of short-term convenience.”