A construction company facing charges relating to injuries suffered by workers at Level Crossing Removal Project sites, including one in Laverton, has committed to spending more than $1.2 million in safety measures.
Last month, the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd had entered into an Enforceable Undertaking with WorkSafe worth $1,254,708.
The company faced seven charges of failing to provide and maintain a workplace that was safe and without risks to health in relation to incidents at Level Crossing Removal Project sites in Laverton in 2022 and Dandenong in 2021.
In January 2022, a worker was retrieving a light tower from a vehicle at a site in Laverton when he stepped back and was struck by an excavator. The worker suffered fractures to his foot and was off work for a number of weeks.
In October 2021, a worker in Dandenong was struck by a reversing dump truck. The worker suffered multiple fractures and had to have toes amputated.
In both cases, WorkSafe alleged it was reasonably practicable for McConnell Dowell Constructors to have implemented measures to prevent machinery colliding with employees and to have ensured high risk construction work was performed safely.
Among the conditions of the undertaking, the company will have to fit machinery with AI blindsight technology, fund and deliver training on people and plant separation risks and fund scholarships and safety programs at RMIT University.
The charges may be reinstated if the undertaking is contravened or withdrawn.
