Proway Livestock Undertaking 

December 2015 

On 22 January 2013, a worker employed by Proway Livestock Equipment Pty Ltd (Proway) was injured whilst cutting the lid off a 44 gallon drum when the drum exploded.   

It is claimed that there was a breach of section 19(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), “A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable the safety of 1) workers engaged or caused to be engaged……….”  

By way of penalty, the company entered into an enforceable undertaking that included:  

1.  establish an accredited Work Health and Safety Management System 

2.  provide further additional training to both current and future employees in Work Health and Safety 

3.  produce a safety media campaign on the dangers of cutting drums and a case study 

4.  present information sessions on the dangers of cutting drums to TAFE NSW Riverina Institute Metal Trades section 

5.  make a donation to the Sydney Burns Fund for the support of a PHD student into burns research. 

This undertaking has a total expenditure of $207,250. 

The reasons for offering the undertaking included:  

1.  The alleged contravention does not appear to be a section 31 Reckless conduct category 1 offence, which if it was the case, would preclude the proposed undertaking from being accepted. 

2.  The nature of the alleged contravention and the actions taken by Proway in response to the incident are assessed as being appropriate for consideration of an undertaking. 

3.  The strategies proposed in the undertaking have been assessed as likely to deliver long term sustainable safety improvements in the workplace, industry and community.