The workplace accident occurred at the Visy Pulp and Paper Mill in Tumut. Photo: Visy/Facebook.
A Tumut paper mill worker left unable to continue his trade after walking into a head-height metal pipe is set to receive compensation expected to exceed $1 million after a judge found two companies failed to provide a safe workplace.
Wayne John Smith, 57, was walking through a narrow gap beside a large motor at a paper mill when he struck his head on a metal pipe protruding into the walkway.
According to a Supreme Court judgement handed down this week, the pipe hung just 1.7 metres above the floor and extended more than 60 centimetres into a passage of roughly the same width. It was later raised by about 60 centimetres after the incident.
Mr Smith said he was initially startled and shocked before experiencing immediate pain in his neck and right arm. Although he completed his shift that day, the pain persisted and he saw his doctor the following week.
Medical assessments later found he had suffered a significant cervical spine injury with ongoing debilitating effects and was permanently incapacitated from performing the type of work he had previously done.
He subsequently sought compensation from his employer, DME Engineering, and Visy Pulp and Paper Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s largest paper manufacturers, which owned and operated the mill.
Supreme Court Justice Sarah McNaughton found both DME Engineering and Visy were negligent and responsible for the accident.
The judge found the pipe was an obvious hazard and that several people had already raised concerns about it on the day of the accident. Despite those warnings, there was no evidence either company took action to remove or reduce the risk before Mr Smith was injured.
“I find that the pipe elbow, being at [Mr Smith’s] head height, was such that it presented a hazard to him, given he was wearing a hard hat with a peak, at the time of the accident he was navigating a route he had never navigated before and was monitoring the ground for trip hazards and the upcoming right turn around the motor,” Justice McNaughton ruled.
“I accept that his head collided with the pipe elbow which was obstructing the walkway at head height and that this caused his head and neck to ricochet backwards.”
Mr Smith argued Visy should have prevented the installation of the pipe in its hazardous position, while DME failed to provide a safe system of work.
Visy argued the risk of a worker striking the pipe was “unforeseeable and insignificant” and pointed to the absence of previous incidents.
DME contended Visy bore responsibility because it controlled the layout of the mill and the position of the pipe.
However, Justice McNaughton found DME had a duty to ensure areas where its employees were required to work were free from hazards that created a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury.
“The presence of a metal pipe protruding into a walkway, at head height, without any form of warning or differentiation, represented a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury and was self-evidently dangerous,” she ruled.
The judge also found Visy owed Mr Smith a duty of care because it controlled the placement and configuration of equipment throughout the mill.
She accepted Mr Smith had suffered a significant neck injury which developed into chronic pain and left him permanently unable to return to his previous occupation.
In assessing damages, Justice McNaughton awarded more than $560,000 for past economic loss and almost $830,000 for future loss of earning capacity, along with additional compensation relating to tax paid on workers compensation benefits.
Any damages ultimately payable will be reduced by 20 per cent after the court found Mr Smith was partly responsible for the accident because he failed to adequately check his surroundings before proceeding through the unfamiliar area.
“[He] could readily have performed a quick visual check, looking up and around to ensure his own safety, before navigating his way along a pathway from an angle which was new to him and which had trip hazards,” the judge ruled.
Nevertheless, Justice McNaughton found this to be a “momentary lapse” and the primary responsibility rested with the companies responsible for workplace safety.
Liability was apportioned equally between Visy and DME Engineering.
The parties have been directed to calculate the final amount payable in accordance with the court’s findings.
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