Halifax Crane Hire fined $12k after retrial for 2017 breach of repealed health and safety regulations

A Bunbury-based crane company has been fined after it was found to have breached now-repealed occupational health and safety regulations. Halifax Crane Hire was fined $12,000 by the Bunbury Magistrates Court on Thursday, December 14 after a retrial determined the company had failed to ensure the required number of people were involved in the use of a crane in 2017. The company was originally fined $40,000 after a trial in May last year but the conviction and sentence were both appealed and the Supreme Court allowed for a conviction appeal and a retrial. Halifax supplied a 70-tonne crane, crane operator and a dogger to a Gran Designs WA construction site in Yarloop in March 2017 to assist in moving concrete panels being used for a house build. State Government regulations at the time required a responsible person to ensure at least one dogger and one rigger were involved in the use of a crane with a capacity of more than 60 tonnes alongside a crane operator. Each person was required to have experience in using a crane. Halifax sent one dogger and one crane operator to the Yarloop site during the non-compliant incident, with no other licensed dogger or rigger at the site. Acting WorkSafe Commissioner Sally North said the regulations existed to ensure that work was done safely and they should never be ignored. “The result of the retrial is confirmation that Halifax did not comply with their obligations under the regulations, acting in a way that was contrary to safe work practices,” Ms North said. “This case should serve as a reminder to all employers that they are responsible for worker safety and that everyone on a worksite needs to adhere to the workplace safety regulations.”