The owners of a Northern Territory Cattle Station were recently fined following the death of an employee who was fatally injured in an incident on the property.
Appearing before the Alice Springs Magistrates Court, Peter and Brenda Saint, owners of Kurundi Station, were fined $55,000 in relation to the death of 24-year-old Canadian national John Evans on 6 September 2008.
Evans suffered fatal injuries when a four wheel drive “bull catcher” he was driving rolled over and pinned him to the ground on the station, about 140km south-east of Tennant Creek. He was working as a station hand for the Saints at the time of his death.
A NT WorkSafe investigation into the incident found that the bull catcher was unregistered and unroadworthy, and inadequate maintenance of the vehicle also meant the bull catcher was unsafe to operate.
“All employers have a general statutory duty of care to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that workers and others are not exposed to risks to their health or safety arising from the conduct of the employer’s business,” said Laurene Hull, executive director of NT WorkSafe.
“These duties include taking all reasonably practicable measures to ensure that equipment in the workplace, including vehicles, are safe.
“Proper maintenance of the bull catcher may have prevented the specific incident which caused the vehicle to roll over. Unfortunately for John Evans and his family this was not the case,” Hull said.