Dicey sand delivery dishes up $45,000 fine

A residential construction company was fined $45,000 and ordered to pay costs for failing to ensure the health and safety of its workers after a contractor’s vehicle was scorched and damaged by a low-voltage powerline (SafeWork NSW v Profect Construction Pty Ltd [2025])

The incident

Profect Construction Pty Ltd (Profect) was engaged as the principal contractor for a new build of a 2-storey dual occupancy home in Dundas, New South Wales. Profect engaged Kens Sand and Cement Pty Ltd (Kens) to supply and deliver sand and cement products to the worksite.

Profect lodged an order with Kens for the delivery of seven bulk bags of sand to the worksite on 9 February 2023. A Kens employee was assigned to deliver the order using a truck that had a model vehicle crane fitted.

When the employee arrived at the worksite, he was directed by bricklayers on site to the designated unloading zone for trucks at the worksite. The designated unloading zone was near low-voltage powerlines that were approximately 4.33 metres above the ground. The employee observed the powerlines but began to unload the sandbags. When he attempted to unload the second bag, the crane hit the overhead powerlines, bringing a live powerline onto the truck. The driver’s side door was scorched, the airbag was deployed, and the driver’s side window was shattered, however, the employee was unharmed.

Charge and sentencing

Profect was charged with a failure to ensure the health and safety of workers at the site, which subsequently exposed the Kens employee to a risk of death or serious injury.

The Court heard that Profect could have minimised or eliminated the risk by:

designating a safe unloading zone away from the powerlines;
communicating the designation of that zone to workers and visitors at the site;
installing appropriate warning signage within the vicinity of powerlines; and
ensuring that the unloading of materials and use of cranes at the site was subject to supervision sufficient to ensure that the unloading occurred in a designated zone.

Profect pleaded guilty to the offence. On sentencing, the Court took into account that Profect had little capacity to pay a large fine and so the fine was substantially reduced to $45,000 (which included a 25% discount for the plea of guilty).

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