NT WorkSafe has charged a cattle mustering contractor with four breaches of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011, following an incident in which an 18-year-old worker suffered severe burns when a 44-gallon Avgas drum exploded. On 13 April 2019, Aaron Peter Kerr (trading as Kerr Contracting & Co) and his workers were mustering at a camp on Montejinni Station, approximately 320 km south-west of Katherine. Kerr allegedly directed a worker to cut the lid off a 44-gallon Avgas drum for use as a rubbish bin, and directed another worker to assist, while Kerr and the other workers went to muster cattle.

The two workers attempted to wash and clean the drum before the 18-year-old worker used an angle grinder to cut the drum, causing an explosion, which resulted in the worker receiving burns to the hands, arms, face and nasal passages. Although a first aider at Montejinni Station assessed the injures as first- and second-degree burns, Kerr allegedly exposed the injured worker to further serious injury, illness or death by not contacting emergency services or arranging transport to ensure the worker had access to appropriate medical treatment and advice.

Appropriate medical treatment was not available at the camp, or at Montejinni Station, despite the injured worker complaining of persistent pain and discomfort and a worsening of his condition. It took six more days for the worker to be transported from the camp at Montejinni Station and admitted into Katherine Hospital. Kerr is facing two charges of reckless conduct under section 31 of the Act for failing to ensure the health and safety of his workers, as per section 19(1)(a) of the Act.

Charges under section 31, also known as a Category 1 offence, are the most serious charge available for a serious workplace incident that does not involve a death. Kerr is also facing one charge under section 38(1) of the Act for failing to notify NT WorkSafe of the incident until seven days after it had occurred. He is also facing a charge under section 39(1) of the Act for failing to preserve the site of an incident.

If found guilty of all charges, Kerr faces a combined maximum penalty of $1,220,000 or five years imprisonment or both. The matter is listed for mention in the Darwin Local Court on 9 June 2021.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/hoshi