Australia, June 27 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on May 27:

1. Danrae Remedial Services Pty Ltd (the offender) appears for sentence after being convicted at trial of an offence under s 32 Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (the Act).

2. The Court's reasons for the finding of guilt are set out in the decision: SafeWork NSW v Remedial Services Pty Ltd [2025] NSWDC 70 (the verdict judgment). This judgment assumes familiarity with the verdict judgment and adopts the defined terms used in the verdict judgment.

3. The maximum penalty for the offence is a fine of $1,782,579.

Facts

4. The factual findings are set out in the verdict judgment. I have taken all of those findings into account in coming to the appropriate sentence. What follows is a summary of the relevant factual findings in the verdict judgment to permit an understanding of the sentence imposed.

5. The offender operates a business providing waterproofing services.

6. On 12 November 2021 the offender was engaged to apply a waterproofing membrane to the third-floor balcony of a townhouse in Wilson Street, Botany (the site). The task involved applying Ardex WA98 Adhesive (the adhesive), a highly flammable substance, to membrane sheets and the floor of the balcony and then sticking the membrane sheets to the floor. Where the edges of the membrane sheets overlapped, it was intended to use a Leister Triac-ST Heat Gun (the heat gun) to heat weld them together. The heat gun could reach temperatures of up to 700oC. It was raining at the time of the work and Mr Bunyan used the heat gun to dry areas of the floor so that the adhesive would stick. The heat gun was left switched on, close to where the work was being undertaken. At about 9.00am, Mr Reid was using a roller to apply the adhesive to membrane sheets and the floor. When he placed the roller back into a bucket containing the decanted adhesive, the vapour from the adhesive ignited and a flash fire engulfed Mr Reid causing burns to his lower legs.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1970f8be26facc3c9dc3b86e)

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