$40,000 in fines for company that failed to comply with improvement notice

Chemical Solutions (VIC) Pty Ltd was sentenced without conviction in the Broadmeadows Magistrates' Court on Thursday 6 August after pleading guilty to two charges under the Dangerous Goods Act and the Dangerous Goods (Storage and Handling) Regulations.

The company was fined $25,000 for failing to comply with an improvement notice and $15,000 for failing to eliminate or reduce the risk of chemical and physical reactions occurring between incompatible dangerous goods.

The court also ordered the company to pay WorkSafe’s costs of $5,207.

Following an August 2024 visit to the factory, WorkSafe inspectors issued an improvement notice after finding dangerous goods being stored on a pallet racking system unsecured.

The notice required the company to:

• Ensure all dangerous goods products placed on pallets within the pallet racking were secured;
• Conduct a risk assessment for the use of the pallet racking within the workplace used to store dangerous goods;
• Develop a Safe Work Procedure (SWP) for the use of the pallet racking to store dangerous goods, which included ensuring that dangerous goods were safely secured to pallets prior to being stored; and
• Develop a schedule for informal and formal racking inspections and process for defect reporting and tag out of plant.

A follow-up inspection two weeks later found only some of the issues had been addressed by the compliance date, and the improvement notice was ultimately not fully complied with until February 2025.

The court heard that during a separate visit in September 2024, WorkSafe inspectors found four 205-litre drums of a Class 3 flammable liquid stored beside intermediate bulk containers of a Class 8 corrosive.

A WorkSafe investigation found it was reasonably practicable for Chemical Solutions to either store the chemicals in separate physical locations or compounds, at a minimum distance of three metres, or inside a secondary contamination or segregation device.

WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said failing to follow the advice, guidance or directions of inspectors undermined Victoria’s workplace safety framework.

“Notices are a critical tool for achieving safer workplaces and failure to rectify observed breaches not only puts health and safety at risk, but can lead to further enforcement action,” Mr Jenkin said.

“There are strict obligations around the storage and handling of dangerous goods and WorkSafe will use every power at its disposal to ensure duty holders are doing everything they can to protect people and property.”