The PCBU was charged with breaching sections 19(1) and 32 of the NSW WHS Act, before entering the enforceable undertaking (EU) with SafeWork NSW, in lieu of prosecution.

It responded to prohibition and improvement notices issued shortly after the incident by establishing an exclusion zone around the site until the crane was righted and scaffolding and formwork were in place, and ensuring a licensed dogman was used for mobile crane work.

It spent $107,100 on WHS certificate IV training for all third and fourth-year cadets and supervisory staff, and also provided leadership and management training for the latter.



According to the EU document, AW Edwards was spending $514,000 over the next three years to employ the WHS coordinator to be based at its Port Macquarie office. The coordinator would collaborate with teams across the business to ensure it applied a best practice and uniform approach to managing health and safety.

AW Edwards was also developing a mobile phone application, at a cost of $485,000, to allow crane hirers and crane providers to share information to ensure correct cranes were selected for tasks and projects, the EU document said.

Inadequate communication about proposed lifts resulted in cranes being used to lift loads exceeding safe working limits and inadequate safe working documentation that failed to identify risks, it said.

There was currently “considerable risk” in the construction industry arising from unsuitable cranes being provided to sites to avoid delaying work until suitable alternative plant could be sourced, the document said.

The mobile application would reduce the occurrence of unsuitable cranes being delivered to sites by ensuring operators and providers had all the information they needed determine the type of crane required for the job, it said.

As reported by OHS Alert in May 2011, AW Edwards was fined $100,000 for safety breaches after a crane lifting a concrete panel tipped over, struck high-pressure gas bottles, penetrated the roof of an occupied bus and narrowly missed a worker in 2008 (see related article).

The total estimated spend of its new EU of $1,855,000 was the biggest WHS EU spend in NSW history, surpassing the previous record (see related article) by $300,000.



AW Edwards Pty Ltd enforceable undertaking