Adbri has entered into an Enforceable Undertaking with work, health and safety regulator SafeWork SA to spend $876,545 on safety improvements as an alternative to prosecution over the 2021 incident.

It follows a SafeWork SA investigation after a worker fell 3.7 metres from a mezzanine platform onto a concrete floor at the cement and masonry products manufacturer’s crushing plant at Klein Point on the Yorke Peninsula.

SafeWork SA said the worker was undertaking a task while the top and middle edge rails surrounding the elevated fixed platform were removed, creating a ‘live edge’.

The worker – who has since returned to work on restricted hours – sustained injuries including a fractured skull and ribs, broken vertebrae, hearing loss and amnesia.

Adbri – formerly known as Adelaide Brighton – will spend the money on funding a range of improvements including:

• Appointing an additional site supervisor at Klein Point Limestone Mine in Stansbury
• Additional training for workers at the mine site
• Purchasing a specialised rock breaker to assist the injured person’s return to work
• Reviewing height safety at Adbri’s Birkenhead and Angaston sites
• Creating a web page to promote a safety campaign on falls from heights
• Hosting a safety forum with industry partners
• Providing funding to improve safety at Stansbury Bowling Club, where the injured person has an association

It adds to around $295,000 of rectifications made by Adbri to the Klein Point site prior to the company entering into the Enforceable Undertaking with SafeWork SA.

SafeWork SA executive director Glenn Farrell acknowledged the company’s commitment to ongoing effective management of risks to health and safety.

“The undertaking commits Adelaide Brighton to actions that are above the minimum standard of compliance,” Farrell said.

“I have concluded that an EU is the preferred enforcement option, rather than continuing with prosecution in this case.

“This is due to the opportunity to provide lasting organisational change within Adelaide Brighton and the implementation of monitored and targeted health and safety improvements that will deliver benefits to workers, industry and the community, which may not be achieved by prosecution.”

It comes as SafeWork SA also announced today that its workplace safety inspectors will wear bodycams to record audio and video footage during investigations to “support the safety of inspectors by encouraging safe and mutually respectful interactions” and “reduce disputes”.

In a statement, Industrial Relations minister Kyam Maher said the cameras would help keep inspectors “safe at work”.

“SafeWork SA’s use of body worn cameras will bring them into line with other investigative agencies and will improve the availability of evidence collected by inspectors,” Maher said.

“Body worn cameras are another tool to help keep South Australian workers, as well as SafeWork SA inspectors, safe at work.”

Recordings will be stored in a secured evidence management system with controlled access according to SafeWork SA.