A Queanbeyan-based crane contractor has been fined $300,000 in the ACT Industrial Court over the 2016 workplace death of 62-year-old Herman Holtz.
The grief-stricken family of Mr Holtz, who was killed instantly when a crane fell on him at the University of Canberra Hospital worksite, sobbed in court as contractor RAR Cranes was convicted over his death.
"As a family, we are gutted, disappointed and angry that we are now without our Dad, our children are without their Papa and our Mum is without her husband," Mr Holtz's daughter Ana Lewis said outside court.
"We took part in this with the intention and hope of not seeing other families go through what we have."
RAR Cranes had supplied a crane and driver to the worksite, which was being run by construction giant Multiplex.
The court heard RAR Cranes had been warned by one of its operators that other drivers would need to be trained to use the particular crane — but that did not happen prior to the 2016 fatality.
RAR Cranes had also failed to ensure driver Michael Watts, a casual employee, had completed a site-specific risk assessment form before operating the overloaded crane.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker described the scene of the incident as "an unfamiliar worksite in the dark", where ringing safety alarms were ignored.
She described the incident as a "highly foreseeable, catastrophic risk".
Mr Holtz was one of four workers walking alongside the load, and at times manually guiding it, when the crane toppled.
RAR Cranes pleaded guilty to one count of breaching its health and safety duty.
The maximum penalty for the offence is $1.5 million, but RAR Cranes was fined $300,000 after Chief Magistrate Walker accepted the company had shown remorse.
Multiplex was previously fined $150,000 over the incident.
At the time, Chief Magistrate Walker reasoned that RAR Cranes should pay a greater penalty than Multiplex because it had "control over the primary cause of the risk".
The court also heard that prior to the incident RAR Cranes had asked Multiplex whether another crane could be used.
But Multiplex denied the request as it deemed the alternative machine to be too expensive.
"Multiplex appears to have exerted some pressure to get the job done that day," Chief Magistrate Walker said.
Crane driver Michael Watts was previously sentenced to a fully-suspended one-year jail term over the incident after it was revealed he had overridden the warning alarm.
