Company fined for operating without high-risk work licence
A construction company has been fined $2,160 after a allowing a worker to operate an elevated working platform (EWP) without a high-risk work licence.
SafeWork SA issued the company with an expiation after an inspector witnessed the operation of a mobile boom-type EWP and discovering that the operator did not hold the required licence. The inspector also found that the businesses had not seen any evidence of the worker holding the relevant licences to operate a mobile EWP.
The audit was part of SafeWork SAs mobile EWP compliance campaign.
SafeWork SA’s executive director, Martyn Campbell has reminded the construction industry of the importance of WHS laws.
“There are certain forms of work that have the potential to result in significant risk of injury that they are deemed by the WHS laws to require specialised training, assessment of competency and the issuance of a licence for specific nominated classes”.
“With all the information available on the SafeWork SAs website, this business failed to demonstrate due diligence by keeping up to date knowledge relevant to the operation of mobile elevating work platforms.”
“It is the responsibility of the business to ensure they are across legal requirements and worker safety including licensing. Untrained operators can lead to serious incidents.”
SafeWork SA has developed guidelines for businesses working with mobile EWPs available on their website. These guides include information for ground support crews and the minimum training standards.
SafeWork SA has also reminded businesses using EWPs that proper training is required to ensure that all work is conducted safely.
