A man was fatally struck by metal debris ejected from a tractor-mounted slasher while standing approximately five metres away. The contractor knew the risk and had documented a 30 metre exclusion zone, but the work continued.

A 20-year-old engineering student suffered serious spinal injuries after unstable ground gave way beneath her at the edge of a three-metre excavation. The excavation was already showing signs of failure, yet work continued without battering, fencing or effective edge protection.

A robot did not suddenly become confused, develop intent or decide that a worker was a box. It performed the movement its control system allowed it to perform while a person remained inside its hazardous operating envelope. On 10 Jan 26, a worker entered part of an automated packaging line at Multisteps’ Narangba factory in Queensland to inspect a sensor. The machine had reportedly stopped twice within approximately ten minutes and was known to malfunction regularly. While th

The Sea World helicopter crash was over in seconds, but the conditions behind it developed over months. This article examines how poor change management, stale information, failed communication and weak critical controls created a fatal conflict point, and what every workplace must learn from it.

On 27 Jan 21, marine salvage worker Max Haywood was fatally struck by the collapsing mast of a submerged steel yacht during a crane operation at Rozelle, New South Wales. The lift involved an uncertain load, an unsuitable lifting point, overloaded equipment and an operator who did not hold the required crane licence. The incident was not caused by an obscure technical defect or an unforeseeable change in conditions. It developed from a work method that replaced engineering, v

A $200,000 reminder that traffic management must physically control the risk On 17 Dec 25, D’Orsogna Limited was convicted and fined $200,000 after a reversing forklift struck a worker and pinned her legs to the ground at its Mickleham warehouse in Victoria. The prosecution is another reminder that instructions, eye contact, painted lines and high-visibility clothing do not physically prevent mobile plant from colliding with a person. The incident occurred in April 2023 while

A worker entered a demolition site with two feet and left without the toes and part of the forefoot of his left foot. The risk had been identified, the controls had been documented and the business had a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS), but the controls described in that document were not operating when they were needed. Photo by Frederick Shaw on Unsplash On 02 Jul 26, the South Australian Employment Court convicted A. Haros Demolition Pty Ltd of a Category 2 offence under

Two Queensland prosecutions released in Jul 26 provide useful lessons about how organisations manage work outside their normal operations and how they respond when an existing control system has already failed. One involved an apprentice losing an eye during an unfamiliar ancillary task, while the other involved a dozer operator spending approximately eight hours trapped upside down beneath a coal stockpile. The industries, work and legislation were different, but the underly

On 02 Dec 99, at approximately 0822h, an interurban passenger train collided with the rear of the Indian Pacific on the main western line east of Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. Seven people were killed and 51 passengers required hospitalisation. The damage to both trains was extensive, the disruption to the rail network was significant, and the consequences extended well beyond the rolling stock, the timetable and the incident location. Glenbrook remains on

On 19 Sep 25, Kellogg (Aust.) Pty Ltd was convicted in the Industrial Court of New South Wales and fined $510,000 after two workers fell approximately four metres from an elevated work platform at its Banksmeadow manufacturing site. SafeWork NSW reported the prosecution publicly on 23 Sep 25, confirming that the incident occurred on 03 Mar 23 when a truck reversed into a loading dock and struck the EWP with both workers inside. Image generated for visual effect. The two injur

On 11 Nov 22, a formworker fell nearly 3.85 metres from a bridge abutment at a construction site in Huntley, New South Wales, while stripping formwork. The worker was positioned on the top of the southern abutment, using an extension ladder to attach wire chains between a 26-tonne excavator and form soldiers, and was not wearing a harness because the steel available for anchoring was on the opposite side of the abutment. Image generate for visual effect. The incident resulted

A worker is dead, a company has been fined $472,500, and another Australian prosecution has landed squarely on the same recurring issue seen across heavy industry for decades, hazardous plant interacting with inadequate systems of work. This time it involved a green waste grinder in New South Wales. The underlying failures were neither novel nor technically complex. That is what makes these incidents so frustrating from a safety perspective. According to SafeWork NSW, Northwe

I'll never forget the footage of a fire inside an aged care facility, in an area where some of the highest care was required. Fortunately, everyone got out, but it was too close for comfort. I was involved, in my former role as an inspector, in responding to an aged care facility fire in Victoria. I will not identify the facility, the organisations involved or the individuals connected to the matter, because the lesson is broader than one incident and the people involved are

A Victorian residential builder has been convicted and fined after WorkSafe found contractors working more than three metres above ground level without fall protection. Desbo Industries Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on 05 Mar 26 after pleading guilty to failing to ensure a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to health. The company was fined $40,000 and ordered to pay $4,422 in costs. The facts are not complex, which

The Human And Financial Cost Of Reactive Safety Management Photo by Joe Dudeck on Unsplash An allegation is made against a worker. The allegation is investigated, the available evidence is considered and the finding is that it cannot be substantiated on the balance of probabilities. That should establish the position unless credible new evidence emerges. Instead, a customer or senior manager rejects the outcome, demands that somebody be punished and starts applying commercial

The recent District Court outcome in NSW, where $250,000 in combined fines were ordered against a skydiving operator and its sole director following a double fatality, is not a “high-risk industry” curiosity. It is a straight application of duty, risk, and control failure. The hazard was a modified aircraft step that introduced a snag point. The failure was allowing that condition to exist without engineering assurance, inspection, or an effective control set. The consequence

WorkSafe Victoria has announced that Pearl Construction Group Pty Ltd was convicted and fined $150,000 in the Melbourne County Court after a 23-year-old worker suffered fatal head injuries when he fell about three metres through an unprotected stair void on a Glen Waverley townhouse site in September 2022. WorkSafe says the company pleaded guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure a workplace under its management or control was safe and without risks to health. The regul

A recent Victorian prosecution involving Lemitech Pty Ltd provides another stark reminder that many fatal workplace incidents do not arise from complex failures, but from the absence of well-known and well-documented controls. The case relates to a fatal entanglement in a conveyor system at a poultry facility in Lethbridge, Victoria. While conducting inspection or adjustment activities, a worker became fatally entangled in moving conveyor components. The County Court later h

Lithium battery fires are no longer rare events, they are a predictable outcome of damaged cells, poor charging practices, and inadequate controls. These fires burn hotter, last longer, and often reignite, making them difficult to manage once they start. Treat lithium batteries like the high energy systems they are, not harmless accessories.

Remote road deaths are not random. Recent NT and WA coronial findings show the same failures repeating, unlit roads, no courtesy transport, alcohol, speed, no seatbelts, fatigue, and poor remote communications. These risks are well known and easily controlled. When organisations rely on awareness instead of system design, coroners are left writing the same report with a new name.