Company charged over trench collapse deaths

A civil construction company has been charged by WorkSafe Victoria following the death of two workers after a trench collapsed in Ballarat in March 2018.

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Published: 09 January 2019

The men were laying pipe at the Winterfield Estate housing development in the Ballarat suburb of Delacombe on March 21 when the trench collapsed.

Following a comprehensive investigation by WorkSafe, Ballarat company Pipecon Pty Ltd was charged with two breaches of section 21of the Occupational Health and Safety Act:

  • Failing to maintain battering or benching of the excavation and to use trench shields and manhole cages to protect the workers from the risk of engulfment.
  • Failing to provide supervision to ensure its employees did not perform work in the trench without battering, benching, trench shields or manhole cages.

The matter is listed for a filing hearing at the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on 4 February 2019.