SafeWork NSW has warned strata companies to be vigilant about checking industrial gates after a Wollongong worker tragically lost his life.

The 64-year-old worker had been employed by a tenant at an industrial complex in Berkeley on 12 June 2020.

Eight days earlier, the property’s 8.5-metre-long electrical entry gate had been damaged when a van ran into it, pushing the gate off its track. While the body corporate granted approvals for gate repairs the day after the damage took place, it was not treated as a matter of urgency.

When the worker tried to manually open the electrical gate to complete the work he was hired to do, the gate fell on him and he was killed.

At a District Court hearing on 22 August 2024, the strata company and owners’ corporation were both found guilty under the Work Health and Safety Act NSW 2011 for failing to urgently repair the gate. The strata firm was fined $150,000 plus costs, while the owners’ corporation was fined $225,000 plus costs.

The worker’s employer was also found guilty of “failing to comply with its duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of its workers”, and was fined $375,000 plus costs.

In total, $750,000 in fines were issued by the court in relation to the incident.

Trent Curtin, head of SafeWork NSW, warned that “strata management companies and owners’ corporations of commercial premises can consider themselves on notice”.

“As this case shows, workplace safety is everybody’s responsibility,” he said. “It is important that we do everything possible to prevent something like this from happening again.”

Curtin stressed that industrial gates “have the potential to be extremely dangerous if not properly maintained”.

“I urge anyone responsible for an industrial gate to regularly check that it is safe and in good working order,” he said.

For details of the case see SafeWork NSW v Maluko Pty Ltd [2023] NSWDC 274