On 14 October 2003, 28-year-old Melissa Maybury was crushed to death when a large metal sliding gate located at a business in Mascot fell on top of her.

In a unanimous decision the Supreme Court upheld the findings of the Industrial Court and conviction against the Balmain company that designed the gate, Simpson Design Associates Pty Ltd (SDA).

SDA is a medium-sized engineering firm which has undertaken consultancy work in over 2500 engineering projects for the building and construction industry since 1998.

At the trial in 2010 the Industrial Court was told the death occurred when Ms Maybury was helping an employee shut a malfunctioning electronic sliding metal gate at the premises.

The front edge of the gate slipped out of its bracket and fell onto Ms Maybury, who suffered severe crush injuries and died in hospital several hours later.

The Industrial Court found that SDA should have anticipated the gate might one day fail and its design should have included adequate devices to prevent the sliding metal gate from falling during manual operation.

On 9 June 2010, the Industrial Court found the company guilty and handed down a fine of $185,000 and ordered SDA to pay WorkCover’s legal costs.

An appeal against the conviction was originally lodged to the Full Bench of the Industrial Court, and that court dismissed that appeal and SDA was again ordered to pay WorkCover’s additional legal costs.

SDA then took the matter to the Supreme Court, which has now also dismissed SDA’s request to have the convictions overturned and was again told to pay WorkCover’s legal costs.

SDA was one of three companies charged in relation to this incident. The operator of the business Hy-Tec Industries Pty Ltd had already pleaded guilty to breaches of the Occupational Health & Safety Act 2000 and was fined $135,000. The gate’s manufacturer, Lejah Pty Ltd, also pleaded guilty to breaches of the legislation and was fined $155,000.

WorkCover’s General Manager of Workplace Health and Safety Division John Watson said this case was a tragic reminder of the importance to businesses - including designers and manufacturers of equipment - of being fully aware of their obligations under OHS legislation.

“Designers of equipment and machinery have a critical role to play in workplace health and safety,” Mr Watson said.

“They need to take into account how the equipment will be used in the workplace and design out potential risks and hazards that may arise over the life cycle of the equipment.

“Deaths are unacceptable in the workplace and employers need to make sure lessons are learnt from tragedies like these.”