Gold Coast company pleads guilty to fatal insulation
Titan Insulation Pty Ltd pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Industrial Magistrates Court today over the death of an insulation installer in the ceiling of a home at Millaa Millaa on the Atherton Tableland, on 4 February 2010.
The company pleaded guilty to breaching section 27 of the Electrical Safety Act 2002 for failing to conduct its business or undertaking in a way that was electrically safe. The company breached the Electrical Safety (Installation of Ceiling Insulation) Notice 2009. It failed to meet its electrical safety obligations under section 30 of the Electrical Safety Act.
The Department of Justice and Attorney-General laid charges against the Gold Coast company following an investigation into the death of 22 year old Mitchell Sweeney, who was electrocuted while installing foil insulation in the ceiling cavity of a Millaa Millaa home.
The Court heard that in February 2010 Titan Insulations Pty Ltd carried on a business or undertaking that included installing insulation.
A joint investigation was conducted into the incident by the Electrical Safety Office and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, both part of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
Industrial Magistrate Paul Kluck accepted the plea of guilty. Mr Kluck found the company had a clear obligation to ensure installation of insulation was done in a way that was electrically safe.
He found the company fell short of its obligations in that it did not ensure metal staples were not used to secure foil insulation and that power was not isolated. The great tragedy of these failures was that Mr Sweeney was electrocuted.
Although Mr Kluck noted the company took “not insignificant” steps towards discharging its obligations, he also found that it should have had systems in place to ensure that the failings identified did not eventuate.
Mr Kluck observed Titan Insulations Pty Ltd had no prior convictions and was a small company with two directors in their twenties. He fined the company $100,000 with an order that a conviction not be recorded.