Water tank company fined $50,000 for student's fall

Earlier this month, a Victorian water tank company was convicted and fined $50,000 after a 20-year-old engineering student fell into an unprotected excavation at a residential construction site, suffering significant back and neck injuries.

JS Armstrong Water Tanks Pty Ltd was installing an 89,000-litre tank into an excavation that lacked basic safety controls, including fencing, warning signs, and battering or shoring.

During the course of the installation works, the engineering student was standing on the edge of the excavation when it gave way and she fell in, striking brickwork. Around that time, other workers got out of the excavation as they observed parts of the excavation wall collapsing.

Although the excavation had been dug by another contractor at the site, it was a failing by the company to ensure that the excavation was safe to work in and, accordingly, it entered a plea of guilty.

The Court noted that it was a significant departure from the safety standards required and so a conviction was required. The penalty was reduced from $100,000 to $50,000 due to the company’s early guilty plea, remorse, cooperation and lack of prior offending. The company was also ordered to pay $4,452 in costs.

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