Worker crushed to death by 600kg stones
Written by admin on November 6, 2024
An Aussie stone company has copped a massive fine after one of their workers was crushed to death underneath two stone slabs weighing more than 600kg.
Avant Stone, a stone slab supplier to stonemasons and builders across Sydney, was ordered to pay a $450,000 fine after it was found not to have appropriate safety measures in place at the time the male worker, Anton Bauer, 56, died at the company’s Beresfield warehouse in Sydney.
The business employed 10 people at the warehouse when the incident happened in 2022.
About 9am on August 20 that year, Mr Bauer was moving stone slabs for client inspection, under instruction from a co-worker.
The co-worker left to use the bathroom at 11.15am and returned four minutes later to find Mr Bauer lying on the floor, partially crushed under two stone slabs.
“The stone slabs weighed approximately 315kg each,” a District Court judgment states.
“(The co-worker) called an ambulance and emergency services attended.
“Mr Bauer was unable to be revived and was declared dead at the scene of the incident.”
There were no direct witnesses to the incident and the co-worker last saw Mr Bauer operating a remote control to use a crane to move the slabs.
The District Court was told Avant Stone did not have a documented system in place for lifting and moving stone slabs at the time.
There was also no supervision or spotting system in place to ensure safe systems of work were followed when this work was undertaken.
Avant Stone pleaded guilty in court to failing its work health and safety duty, therefore exposing Mr Bauer to a risk of death or serious injury.
The company’s directors conducted regular safety inspections and had frequent discussions with workers concerning safety issues, the court was told.
A lawyer for Avant Stone said $450,000 had since been invested in improving the equipment and procedures, including the installation of overhead cranes in the Sydney factory.
“Avant Stone was not a company which took safety lightly. However, it is apparent that they did not have appropriate systems in place in the warehouse (or indeed in the Sydney factory) to eliminate or minimise the risk of stone slabs tipping,” the District Court judgment states.
“Avant Stone should have known of the risk of slabs falling.”
The company was fined $600,000, but this was reduced to $450,000 because of Avant Stone’s guilty plea.
