Logan City Council has been fined 640 thousand dollars by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland after failing to adequately ensure the safety of one of its employees.
The fine was imposed after a council water maintenance labourer was injured in 2019 when pressure from a blocked sewer manhole he was working on at Eagleby burst into a high pressure jet hose, forcing it to spin violently and out of control in his hands.
Water pressure from jet hoses, which are used to blast blocked sewer drains, can be so intense that the jet can cut through flesh.
Workplace Health and Safety found that the Council lacked a dedicated principal health and safety adviser to oversee such work and forced the council to employ one on top of the big fine.
