The company was fined $95,000 while John Shevlin was fined $9500 by the NSW Industrial Court for failing to ensure the safety of persons using plant under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000.
The incident occurred on 27 August 2003, when Shevlin hired the elevating work platform to a company planning a development, so photographs could be taken of the site from various heights.
He was in the enclosed bucket of the elevated work platform with the architect, who was measuring their height from the ground with a metal tape measure. Wind blew the tape into the powerlines.
Both men received electric shocks, and the architect fell from the bucket to the concrete below. Neither of them was wearing a safety harness.
According to the judgement, the risk of a fall and serious injury should be obvious to anyone operating a lifting device at heights of up to 11m. Properly securing oneself within an effective harness was equally obvious.
According to WorkCover NSW, this case was yet another warning of the danger of falls from heights while working in elevated work platforms. All persons using cherry-pickers should wear an appropriate fall arrest device connected to an anchor point in the bucket.
It further specified hire companies’ responsibility for providing safety instructions on hired equipment.