Safe Work Australia RIS on Engineered stone August 2023 | Page 23

Jurisdiction
Successful prosecution details
� arising from exposure to crystalline silica , and that the employer had failed to eliminate or control that risk in a number of ways .
The offender pleaded guilty and in November 2022 was without conviction sentenced to pay a fine of $ 7,000 .
Pure Design Projects Pty Ltd �
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In January 2021 , a WorkSafe Inspector attended the workplace and observed an employee using an electric angle grinder to grind a piece of white engineered stone . The offender pleaded guilty and in September 2022 was without conviction sentenced to pay a fine of $ 10,000 and to pay costs of $ 3,000 .
AR Marble Pty Ltd �
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In November 2019 , December 2019 and January 2020 , WorkSafe inspectors attended the workplace and observed unsafe practices , including the absence of proper PRR equipment and dry cutting practices exposing employees to hazardous substance crystalline silica .
The offender pleaded guilty and in September 2022 was without conviction sentenced to pay a fine of $ 5,000 and to pay costs of $ 5,044 .
United Investment Group Pty Ltd �
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In October 2019 , WorkSafe inspectors attended the workplace and observed unsafe practices , including dry grinding / cutting / polishing of engineered stone and improper use of PPE .
The offender pleaded guilty and in July 2022 was without conviction sentenced to pay a fine of $ 6,000 and to pay costs of $ 3,325
Hilton Stone Pty Ltd �
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SC101 of 2021 �
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In March 2020 , a WorkSafe inspector attended the workplace and observed a number of breaches , including grinding / cutting / polishing engineered stone without proper controls to help reduce the risk of an employee being exposed to and inhaling silica dust .
The offender pleaded guilty and in June 2022 was with conviction sentenced to pay a fine of $ 25,000 and to pay costs of $ 6,157 .
In October 2016 , a WorkSafe Inspector attended the workplace and observed employees dry grinding / polishing reconstituted stone and employees cleaning up dust using a broom , and was informed that health monitoring had not been provided to employees who were exposed to RCS .
The offender pleaded guilty and in May 2021 was without conviction sentenced to pay a fine of $ 29,000 and to pay costs of $ 3,589.58 .
TTN Stonework Pty Ltd �
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In May 2019 , June 2019 and July 2019 an inspector attended the workplace and noted that the offender had not complied with two previously issued improvement notices relating to dry grinding processes , PPE , health monitoring and unsafe cleaning methods .
The offender pleaded guilty and in April 2021 was without conviction sentenced to pay a fine of $ 10,000 , and ordered to pay statutory costs of $ 84.40 and WorkSafe ’ s costs of $ 1,655.83 .
2.4.2 Insufficient compliance and enforcement activities
Although WHS regulators have undertaken targeted compliance and enforcement activities in the engineered stone industry in recent years , stakeholder submissions to the National Dust Disease Taskforce expressed concern that compliance monitoring and enforcement by WHS regulators had been inadequate ( Department of Health 2021 ). They noted a “ lack of sanctions applied , penalties not being
DECISION REGULATION IMPACT STATEMENT Prohibition on the use of engineered stone Page 22 of 107