Coffs Harbour construction company fined after worker dies

A Coffs Harbour construction company, Suncoast Formwork, and its director have been fined a total of $137,500 and ordered to pay WorkCover’s legal costs after a worker received fatal head and spinal injuries in 2008. The company carries out construction work across NSW and was employed as part of the redevelopment of the Grafton Shopping World, Grafton. Suncoast’s job, as part of the redevelopment, involved building approximately 390 concrete columns in the new car park, designed to hold the weight of the ceiling. 

Each job involved laying down 3.6 metre-high moulds that weighed more than 210 kg each. The moulds would then be filled with concrete and removed once the concrete had dried. On 3 April 2008, 33-year-old Suncoast employee Lee Tapping was helping remove the moulds from the dried concrete when a mould fell over hitting him across the head and body. Tapping was rushed to the Grafton Base Hospital with fractures to the base of his skull, face, spine and ribs, swelling on his brain, significant damage to his spinal cord as well as internal lacerations to his left lung, and deep cuts to his right shoulder. Due to the severity of his injuries, Tapping was then flown to the Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Sydney but died the next day, 4 April 2008.

The WorkCover investigation found that Suncoast, and its Director Garry Watt, had failed to carry out the appropriate safety protocols that would most likely have prevented these serious injuries. The NSW Industrial Court was told that there was no adequate information, instruction and training to workers on how to safely remove the heavy moulds once the concrete had dried. The court was also told that there was no adequate supervision of Tapping while he and a colleague carried out the potentially dangerous work and that the method employed by the workers was not safe. Suncoast Formwork and its director were charged with breaches of the Occupational Health & Safety Act 2000. Suncoast was fined $125,000 and Watt fined $12,500.

“Working in the construction industry can be dangerous. This is why every precaution must be taken to protect all workers. It is critically important that all people involved in the work are provided with appropriate training and instruction and all parts of the construction are stable and secure at all times. Unfortunately, these precautions were not followed in this instance and a man is now dead,” said WorkCover NSW’s General Manager of Work Health and Safety Division, John Watson.