Hansen Yuncken Pty Ltd

On 16 September 2019, a worker suffered fatal injuries after two large steel fire sprinkler pipes fell from the side of a B-double trailer during the course of unloading.

Alleged breach

Hansen Yuncken Pty Ltd contravened sections 19(1), 20(2) and 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

Summary of undertaking

Activities Hansen Yuncken Pty Ltd will undertake include:

  • the establishment of a ‘Centre for Construction Safety and Wellbeing’ through an industry partnership with the University of Newcastle
  • supporting the completion of two PhD research studies into construction industry site management, health and safety leadership and assurance including assessing the effectiveness of the safety management learning interventions developed as part of this Undertaking
  • supporting a post-doctoral fellow in supporting the objectives of the Centre for Construction Safety and Wellbeing including conducting research and using insights from the work undertaken in the Enforceable Undertaking for improving health and safety components within the undergraduate engineering curriculum for the benefit of the industry at large
  • development of health and safety learning animations on the following topics: Transport & Deliveries, Traffic Management, Cranes & Lifting, Underground & Overhead Services, Mobile Plant, Work at Height, and Electrical Supply & Equipment
  • development of a Worker Insight facilitation simulated coaching experience in a virtual environment to train site supervisors on how to facilitate a Worker Insight to enable this technique to be used across the construction industry
  • development of a technology enabled application for Worker Insights which will harness artificial intelligence to capture Worker Insights and enable trend analysis and industry wide hazard identification research at scale
  • funding videography production and livestream services for the International Day of Mourning memorial service events for three years
  • publishing a journal article on best practice approaches to supporting families in the event of workplace incidents
  • conducting a roadshow of education and awareness events on lessons learnt from the incident, incident response and the development and implementation of the HY workzone, Worker Insight tools, learning animations, and lessons from the research undertaken through the Centre for Construction Safety and Wellbeing
  • appointment of an Enforceable Undertaking Digital Initiatives Project Manager
  • appointment of a dedicated Enforceable Undertaking Project Co-ordinator.

This undertaking has a total expenditure of $1,703,888.81

Reasons for accepting the undertaking

  • The alleged contravention does not appear to be a section 31 Reckless conduct category 1 offence, which if it was the case, would preclude the proposed undertaking from being accepted.
  • The nature of the alleged contravention and the actions taken by Hansen Yuncken Pty Ltd in response to the incident are assessed as being appropriate for consideration of an undertaking.
  • The strategies proposed in the undertaking have been assessed as likely to deliver long term sustainable safety improvements in the workplace, industry and community.
  • The undertaking addresses the requirements contained within the “Enforceable Undertakings – Guidelines for Proposing a WHS Undertaking”.

Date accepted

27 March 2023

Further information

View the full Hansen Yuncken Pty Ltd undertaking (PDF, 1777.8 KB).

If you are not able to access the information in this PDF we can make alternative arrangements for you. Please contact enforceable.undertakings@safework.nsw.gov.au.

Back to top