Case

SafeWork NSW v Danrae Remedial Services Pty Ltd (2025)

An NSW waterproofing service provider, Danrae Remedial Services Pty Ltd, was engaged to apply a waterproofing membrane to the third-floor balcony of a townhouse in Botany (the site). The task involved applying a WA98 Adhesive, a highly flammable contact adhesive, to membrane sheets and the floor of the balcony, and then sticking the membrane sheets to the floor. For areas where the membrane sheets overlapped, the provider planned to use a Leister Triac-ST Heat Gun to heat weld them together. The heat gun could reach temperatures of up to 700°C.

It was raining on the date of the incident in November 2021, which caused areas of the floor to get wet. To ensure the adhesive would still stick, one of the provider’s workers used the heat gun to dry wet parts of the floor. However, the heat gun was left switched on near where the work was being undertaken.