A Victorian county court judge told PaperlinX that they had only a reasonable chance of rehabilitation after a series of safety failings that had led to the death of a worker in 2005. The judge condemned Paper Australia for not paying attention to safety improvements made after a 2002 fatality at their Maryvale Mill in Gippsland.
Brett Carroll, a 31-year-old husband and father of a six-week old baby, was killed while he was working on a paper making machine that fell on him and crushed him to death at Paper Australia’s Maryvale plant. The machine had a number of safety failings that were not identified in the intervening two years.
WorkSafe Victoria’s investigation has found that a range of safety mechanisms were removed. The original instructions for maintenance were missing and a set of instructions created after a major refurbishment in 1986 were re-written without reference to the manufacturer’s original instructions.
The judge accused Paper Australia of complacency. Paper Australia pleaded guilty to one charge laid under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1985, which provided for a maximum fine of $255,625. The Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, which increased fines to more than $900,000, took effect after Carroll’s death. Paper Australia were convicted and fined $160,000, and had to pay an additional penalty of $70,000 as they had been prosecuted in 2003 over the March 2002 fatality.