The NSW District Court has handed down its judgement on an incident at the Liddell Power Station more than two years ago that left a worker seriously injured.
On December 17 2020, there was a transformer incident at Unit 3 of the power station in Muswellbrook that left a man seriously injured and requiring medical attention. The unit was also taken out of service for some time as a result.
Owner of the power station, AGL Macquarie, entered an early guilty plea in December 2022 to the offence under section 32 of the WHS Act of failing to ensure, so far as reasonably practical, the health and safety of workers by exposing workers to a risk of death and serious injury.
The District Court handed down its judgement on Tuesday of a criminal conviction recorded against AGL Macquarie and a fine of $600,000, which was reduced by 25% for the company’s early plea of guilty.
A spokesperson for AGL said the reduction in the fine reflects their early plea and cooperation with the prosecutor as well as the significant steps taken to address the causes of the incident and its genuine contribution and remorse.
“Health and safety is a core value of AGL Macquarie, and is an integral part of the way we work.
“AGL Macquarie accepts full responsibility for the incident. We acknowledge and deeply regret the incident and its impact on the injured worker, his family and on its employees and contract workers.
“The incident fell short of AGL Macquarie’s and AGL’s high standards of safety. AGL Macquarie accepts full responsibility for the incident and has implemented systems of work to ensure the incident does not happen again, including amendments to existing written processes and the introduction of new written processes relating to oil cooler changeover and return to service.”