Three mining and construction services companies have been fined a total of $770,000 and ordered to pay $16,000 in costs over the death of truck driver Tom Lord in 2022.
Resource Operations and Maintenance Services, Diverse Management Services and Technologies International Group, trading as Welltech Total Water Management, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the health and safety of other persons was not put at risk from their work and were fined in the Perth Magistrates Court on October 14.
Resource Operations and Maintenance Services and Diverse Management Services were each fined $160,000 for their part in the resulting incident, while Technologies International Group was fined $450,000.
The three companies all provide services to the civil mining and construction industry and all played a role in the construction of earthworks at a mine in the Pilbara, said WorkSafe WA.
The earthworks required the use of large amounts of water, and the mine operator requested Resource Operations to provide a water pump known as a MegaFill pump, which Diverse obtained from Technologies International Group, the hire company.
The MegaFill pump is a mobile water pump with two booms, an intake boom and a discharge boom. The booms extend out for use and are folded away for storage and secured for transport.
When folded, the booms can unfold and rotate away from the pump if not properly secured, so the intake boom is secured for transport by way of a chain attached to the boom, a travel mount strap placed over the boom and a travel mount bolt attaching the boom to the pump frame. The discharge boom is also secured by a travel mount bolt.
When the work was completed, Diverse engaged trucking company RGR Road Haulage to transport the pump back to Perth. It was demobilised without Diverse Management workers or the site supervisor having regard to the operating procedure provided by the hire company.
A rachet strap was placed over the intake boom for transport, but WorkSafe WA said workers did not attach the chain or the travel bolt, creating a risk that the boom could rotate during transport.
Neither Resource Operations nor Diverse ensured that the operating procedure was provided to the workers or that the pump was demobilised according to the procedure, said WorkSafe.
The pump was later loaded onto a semi-trailer, and when it was travelling towards Perth on Great Northern Highway, the ratchet strap securing the intake boom failed and the boom became unrestrained.
At around 9.27pm on July 25, 2022, the boom of the pump struck and killed Lord, the driver of a truck travelling in the opposite direction just north of Meekatharra.
After the incident, WorkSafe WA said Technologies International Group designed a new restraint system that removed the risk of the boom being inadequately restrained during transport.
WorkSafe SA said it was reasonably practicable for Technologies International to fit an engineering control on the pumps to ensure the booms could not rotate or move during transport.
The company failed to implement this practicable measure before the incident and so failed to comply with their health and safety duty, added WorkSafe WA.
WorkSafe Commissioner Sally North said the incident was a tragic reminder of the importance of closely following operating procedures, especially when transporting large items of plant.
“A truck driver was just doing his normal job of driving when, out of nowhere at night, he was struck and killed by an unsecured section of a load being transported in the opposite direction,” North said.
“The two companies that had a role in securing the pump did not take steps to make sure that it was secured according to the operating procedure supplied by the hiring company.
“However, the hiring company must also accept some responsibility for not installing measures that ensured the boom could not rotate or move during transport.
“None of the companies took all reasonably practicable measures to reduce the risk of an incident of this type, and the end result was that a man sadly lost his life.”
WorkSafe WA said RGR Road Haulage has also pleaded guilty to a separate charge but is yet to be sentenced.