A Brisbane not-for-profit has faced the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court after an incident with a golf cart seriously injured a young child.
The legal proceedings were brought by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland against the not-for-profit, which owns and operates a primary school in Mango Hill, Queensland.
It was heard in court that the company employs a groundskeeper for the outdoor maintenance of the site and the groundskeeper utilised a golf cart to get around the site.
On February 14, 2018, the groundskeeper was driving the buggy near to a toilet block when a six-year-old child ran from the block and was struck by the buggy. The child suffered a subdural haemorrhage, a broken leg and spent five days in the hospital before being released to recover at home for a further week.
The investigation by WHSQ found that the defendant failed to take any steps to mitigate the risks associated with the golf cart being used on school grounds.
Magistrate Trevor Morgan explained that the use of the buggy in a setting with primary-school-aged children posed a ‘blindly obvious’ risk when not appropriately managed, and further explained the need for a safety assessment and safety plans for the use of the cart during school hours.
The defendant sought reduced culpability over the accident because the principal of the school was not aware of the buggy, which the Magistrate did not accept as a diminishment of the organisation’s responsibility.
When determining the penalty, the Magistrate took into account an early guilty plea and factored general deterrence into his decision. He accepted that the defendant had assisted WHSQ in the prosecution, but indicated that the general culpability and extent of blame was significant.
No conviction was recorded, despite the seriousness of the incident, and Magistrate Morgan explained that the defendant was a model citizen and had no prior WHS issues.
The defendant was fined $100,000 plus court costs.