Harper Sercombe
Bradbury Industrial Services has been fined almost $3 million after pleading guilty to 12 separate charges.
The chemical recycling operator was fined $2,400,000 for failing to take all reasonable precautions for the prevention of any fire or explosion involving dangerous goods across their two Campbellfield and three Craigieburn warehouses.
On Friday, the County Court heard that Bradbury stored over nine million litres of dangerous chemicals such as burner fuel across their warehouses.
Some of the containers storing the dangerous goods were showing indications of “damage, bulging or leaking,” Judge Peter Rozen said.
Bradbury was fined $500,000 for failing to provide a safe work environment for their employees at the Thornycroft Road site, where the fire began.
Due to Environment Protection Authority (EPA) related offences, Bradbury was charged a further $80,000 for breaching its dangerous goods licence at the Thornycroft Road site, and for the pollution caused by the April 2019 blaze in the local creek, as well as providing an environmental hazard.
Judge Rozen applied some mitigating measures to the struggling business which is currently in liquidation. Judge Rozen said as the business pleaded guilty, “showed some evidence of remorse,” and had no prior convictions, it was entitled to a “significant discount on sentence.”
Judge Rozen said “the fine imposed in this case would have been $4 million,” if there was no plea of guilty.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Narelle Beer said the fire was a shocking example of the consequences of ignoring safety requirements.
“The sheer volume of hazardous chemicals at Bradbury’s other sites and the unsafe way in which they were stored posed significant risk to workers and the surrounding communities,” Dr Beer said
“There is no excuse for such blatant disregard for workplace safety.”
