Electricity generator EnergyAustralia has pleaded guilty to three related contraventions of s 21(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 in relation to the workplace death of 54-year-old Graeme Edwards at Yallourn Power Station in November 2018.
In the hearing, EnergyAustralia expressed its regret and remorse for the tragic and avoidable death of Edwards and acknowledged the impact it has had on both his family and his workmates.
Related article: Tech company eyes Yallourn takeover
Edwards died after being badly burnt in an electrical short circuit while performing routine maintenance at the plant on November 12, 2018.
The Victorian regulator announced in November 2020 that the company would not face charges over the Yallourn death—a decision met with disgust from Edwards’s friends, colleagues and unions.
The decision was reversed following a review by the Director of Public Prosecutions, which was demanded by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.
Energy Australia’s internal investigation into the Yallourn death found Edwards had been doing his job exactly as he had been trained, but the source of the high voltage power had not been adequately barricaded to protect workers.
Related article: Workers hit out at Yallourn safety culture
In November, workers at Yallourn told the Sydney Morning Herald that Energy Australia had a “culture of dollars before lives” as details emerged about a potentially fatal onsite explosion in March.
Documents from WorkSafe described a “catastrophic” explosion in one of Yallourn’s pulverised fuel mills on March 20. Photographs of the explosion show the casing around the pulverising mill’s shaft blown apart, sparking a fire and flinging metal debris up to 20 metres away.
