WorkSafe prosecution of Warrnambool council ends in $12,500 fine

A Warrnambool magistrate has released previously unseen images of a collapsed concrete buyers platform/walkway at the Warrnambool saleyards.

The Warrnambool Magistrates Court heard that a platform collapsed on October 21 in 2020 during a beef cattle sale.

There were between a dozen and 20 people on the platform at the time. No one was seriously injured.

The sale continued after the collapse.

Warrnambool City Council was fined $12,500 in a WorkSafe prosecution last Friday after pleading guilty.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge questioned the value of a monthly inspection regime.

"No one bothered to look underneath to check the amount of degradation and erosion," he said.

Earlier: A Warrnambool magistrate has questioned the value of an inspection regime at the Warrnambool saleyards which failed to detect issues before a buyer's walkway collapsed during an auction in October 2020.

Warrnambool City Council pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to a WorkSafe charge of failing to ensure persons were not exposed to risks between 2015 and the collapse on October 21, 2020.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge fined the council $12,500 with costs of $5425.

The council's legal costs are expected to exceed $20,000.

The court heard the buyers' platforms were constructed 45 years ago and the magistrate said even back then the method of construction should have been questioned, using concrete and steel in such a corrosive environment.

He said after the collapse it was found almost all the buyer's platforms were heavily corroded.

Mr Lethbridge said in 2015 council became aware other load bearing structures at the saleyards were wearing out and the monthly inspection regime put in place was completely inadequate.

He said it was hard to understand how a good corporate citizen like the Warrnambool City Council could have allowed such an inspection regime to be put in place.

"No one bothered to look underneath to check the amount of degradation and erosion," he said.

The magistrate said it was reasonable to expect the council had a suitably qualified person to properly inspect the public facility.

The court heard council director Peter Utri had provided a statement saying the cost of demolition and replacement was more than $500,000.

The council has since ceased operations of the saleyards and the risk of a similar incident has been eliminated.

The court heard during a beef cattle auction on October 21, 2020, the buyer's walkway collapsed while between a dozen and 20 people were on the structure.

No one was seriously injured after the walkway fell about 500 millimetres.

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