A concrete pumping company has been fined $50,000 after a worker was killed by a broken boom pump. The 40-year-old worker was using a truck-mounted pumping machine to pour a concrete slab at St Albans in Melbourne’s northwest, in May 2021 when he was killed, the court was told. The 32-metre boom pump suddenly collapsed, striking him on the back of the head and knocking him into the concrete.
It followed a WorkSafe investigation, which found the metal fatigue crack that caused the boom to collapse was possibly detectable for at least a year before the incident. Prisbel had arranged regular inspections of the boom pump since 2010, but none had involved disassembling the unit and testing critical components. WorkSafe executive director Sam Jenkin said the man’s death could have been prevented.