On 22 January 2026, a steel supplier, processor and distributor company was sentenced in the Mackay Magistrates Court in Queensland for breaching section 19(1) and 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), the duty to ensure the health and safety of workers.

The company conducts a business in the supply, distribution and processing of steel products, since 1998. It is a subsidiary of a national group which operates across 43 sites nationally, including a warehouse at Paget in Mackay.

On 18 September 2023, three workers were picking and packing a steel order at the warehouse at Paget in Mackay. The workers used an overhead dual hoist crane to pick and move large pieces of steel to the warehouse floor for packing.

The dual hoist was used to move a loose pack of hollow steel beams, each 8 metres in length, weighing approximately 1.4 tonnes in total. As the load was suspended above the storage racks, another worker walked under the load and one side of the load slipped out of its restraining sling causing the load to strike the worker who had walked under the load and another worker standing near the crane operator. Both workers who were 18 years of age at the time, suffered serious injuries.

The crane operator reasoned that he was distracted and may have pressed buttons on the crane remote controller which changed the lift to a single hoist operation. The crane operator was in his fifth week of work, and the two injured workers were in their second work week.

The company entered a plea of guilty in failing to enforce exclusion zones and failing to provide adequate training, instruction and supervision of the workers in the safe operations of the crane.

The Court had regard to the inexperience of the workers and characterised the breach as a lack of supervision and reinforcement of the procedures in place.

In determining the penalty to be imposed, the court accepted that the company was a good corporate citizen, had no prior criminal history, entered an early plea of guilty and demonstrated remorse for the breach.

The company faced a maximum penalty of $1.5M, with the Court determining a penalty of $80,000 without conviction.

This article was written by Greg McCann, Partner, and Shivani Gandhi, Solicitor.