Huge fines after redfern station incident

Fines totalling $322,000 have been imposed by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission sitting in court session following an incident at Redfern Railway Station in which a worker suffered severe head injuries causing brain damage.

Rail Infrastructure Corporation was fined $147,000 and Barclay Mowlem Construction Ltd $175,000 after both pleaded guilty to breaches of the OHS ACt 1983 for failing to ensure the health and safety of workers.

On 10 July 1999, a Barclay Mowlem Construction employee was seriously hurt and another narrowly escaped injury when struck by a redundant electrical wire, which fell while they were attempting to remove it from overhead pylons. The court heard that the overhead wire, which was not live, had been held in place with ropes to maintain it in a state of tension during the removal process. However, the restraining ropes slipped off, releasing the wire from its tension, "like a big rubber band", and it fell onto the station platform in a whiplash motion striking the two workers.

In handling down his decision, IRC President J Wright said: "Barclay Mowlem was not unaware of the problem posed by high radial forces on the contact wire. The risk was not, however, adequately or appropriately dealt with." He said the culpability of Rail Infrastructure Corporation in the matter lay in the corporation's failure to adequately supervise the work of Barclay Mowlem and its employees.