The force of the impact was so severe that the 21-year-old worker was ‘thrown against a fence’.

Borelli Concrete Pumping Pty Ltd pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the South Australian Employment Tribunal on 23 May 2025 after a SafeWork SA prosecution.

The incident occurred in August 2021 when the company had been engaged to pump concrete to the rear of a newly built house at Vale Park where a patio and swimming pool were under construction.

Three workers were attempting to clean residual concrete from the hose at the conclusion of the work.  This involved pushing the remaining concrete from the hose using air pressure and a foam ball.

To avoid spraying the house with concrete, the workers decided to turn off the air tap and move the hose to the front yard.

Each worker held a section of the hose, creating a kink to control the remaining air pressure as the excess concrete was released. However, the workers were unaware that air pressure was continuing to build up in the hose.

When a kink was released, the hose began to whip causing one of the workers to lose control of the hose and excess concrete to strike him in the stomach, throwing him into a fence.

The injured worker was treated at the Royal Adelaide Hospital for internal bleeding, a tear to the small bowel and bruising to the duodenum and colon. He was placed in an induced coma and underwent surgery before being discharged from hospital two weeks later.

Although the crew supervisor briefed the workers before the start of the job, there was no Safe Work Method Statement for the task, which is a requirement for high-risk construction work.

SafeWork SA undertook an investigation and charged Borelli Concrete Pumping with a category 2 offence against the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 for failing to comply with its health and safety duty.

The company supported the injured worker after the incident, including engaging him as a full-time employee on modified duties until he was fully fit to work again, and has since upgraded its work health and safety systems and practices.

In her sentencing remarks, Deputy President Magistrate Eaton said the company had engaged in serious offending.

“It knew that its work is high risk construction work. It knew that using air pressure to clean the hoses was a potentially dangerous procedure,” she wrote.

“Yet it relied only on informal and undocumented safety briefings and inadequate assessment and management of obvious risk. Its offending was objectively serious.”

A conviction was recorded and Borelli Concrete Pumping was fined $72,000.

The company was also ordered to pay a Victims of Crime Levy of $437 and a contribution of $2,310 to SafeWork SA’s legal costs.

Attribute quotes to SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell:

The serious injuries suffered by the worker were easily preventable had the company appropriately assessed the risks of pressure build up in the hose, considered what may occur when activities change, such as moving the hose during the process and ensuring the pressure tap was of a type that could not inadvertently be opened.

The importance of a safe work method statement (SWMS) for high risk work is reiterated in this scenario. An appropriate SWMS would have clearly articulated all the hazards associated with this type of work and how such risks could be controlled. Each worker should then have been taken through the SWMS to ensure everyone is aware and understands how the risk of injury is to be minimised.

It is not good enough to simply rely on a verbal briefing when performing high risk construction work.