Charges laid after worker injured in Airport Link Project

WorkSafe WA has laid charges against subcontractor Salini Australia, after a worker suffered serious injuries on the Forrestfield Airport Link Project in July 2018. The subcontractor has been charged with failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment and, by that failure, causing serious harm to an employee.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of 7 July 2018; three Salini employees were connecting steel pipes in an underground tunnel near the Airport Central Station platform when there was an explosion. A 6″ flexible rubber hose in the work area containing high-pressure compressed air had detached from a steel pipe, resulting in unrestrained whiplash motion of the hose. A member of the work crew was struck in the face by the whipping hose, causing him to be knocked unconscious. The worker sustained a traumatic brain injury, severe facial fractures and lacerations, a fractured right hand and an eye injury.

The injured worker initially underwent nine hours of surgery and was then placed in an induced coma for 11 days. He has since undergone further facial surgeries, dental surgeries, plastic surgery, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. The first mention will be in the Perth Magistrates Court on 23 July 2021.

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