Construction boss cleared over fall
Director ‘not liable’ for company’s failings: court
THE sole director of collapsed construction company Cullen Group Australia has had an accusation he failed to comply with work health and safety duties thrown out of court.
Wayne Cullen grinned and said he was “100 per cent relieved” to be found not guilty when approached outside Southport Magistrates Court yesterday.
Mr Cullen had been on trial in the court since Monday, denying the charge against him.
The case against Mr Cullen arose after fourth-year apprentice carpenter Rohan Sills suffered a catastrophic fall through a stairwell void at the company’s City Village construction site at Robina on October 20, 2016.
He was left in a wheelchair suffering permanent paraplegia.
Several months later, Cullen Group went into administration, reportedly leaving 500 creditors out of pocket more than $18 million.
The court was told aluminium planks had been used to temporarily cover stairwell voids on the site until proper “void protection” could be erected, but on the day Mr Sills fell there was no covering in place.
Mr Cullen’s barrister Sarah Cartledge told Magistrate Andrew Sinclair there was not enough evidence to convict her client. She argued there was no case to answer and the charge should be dismissed.
Office of Industrial Relations senior legal officer Kylee-Rachel Fellows tried doggedly to convince Mr Sinclair to proceed, but her arguments ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Mr Sinclair said Mr Cullen could not be convicted for the failings of the company on the minimal evidence available.
“The issue is whether the prosecution can show (Mr Cullen) did not use due diligence to take reasonable steps to ensure the company had and used appropriate resources,” he said.
Mr Sinclair said the company “had available to it suitable resources” put in place, but they were “just not used in a timely or proper manner in this case”.
He said “the real issue is there was no proper void protection on the day”, but “this is not a case where the director is made liable for the failure of the company”.
Workplace Health and Safety’s activities were criticised by Mr Sinclair, who said “there was a completely inappropriate investigation”.
He said Mr Cullen was “not liable simply because the company is liable” and “the prosecution fails to come to grips with that simple concept”.
The investigation “lay dormant for a year”, meaning some documents went astray when Cullen Group was liquidated.
Mr Sinclair told the court delays in investigations could be because the Dreamworld tragedy occurred five days after Mr Sills’ fall.
Workplace Health and Safety was ordered to pay costs of $3375 towards Mr Cullen’s defence within two months.
Representatives from several law firms with an interest in the case watched from the public gallery.