Australia, July 28 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on June 27:

1. Civil 1 Pty Ltd (the offender) appears for sentence after being convicted at trial of an offence under s 197 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 Civil 1 Pty Ltd [2025] NSWDC 82 (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 $588,540 (5,770 penalty units).

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 was the principal contractor for demolition of nine commercial buildings located at 108-118A Mann Street, Gosford (the site). It was a requirement of the development approval for the site, that Type A hoarding be affixed to the scaffolding facing Donnison and Mann Streets, to protect individuals using the footpath on those streets from flying debris and dust generated by the demolition work. At about 3.00pm on 20 August 2020, 21 bays of the scaffolding measuring about 60m in length was blown over by the high winds that had been predicted for that day, injuring a bystander and damaging a large number of vehicles parked on Mann Street and assorted infrastructure.

6. On 20 August 2020, Inspector Kearney of SafeWork NSW attended the site and had a conversation with Mr Giovenali about the demolition work that was left to perform and how it could be undertaken safely without the hoarding place. In particular, Inspector Kearney was concerned about how the defendant would demolish the concrete slab close to Mann Street using excavators without creating a risk of flying debris that could injure pedestrians using the footpath. At the time the scaffold had been replaced with temporary cyclone wire fencing along Mann Street, that was not covered with Unimesh or similar.

7. Inspector Kearney issued a prohibition notice (7-380943) to Mr Giovenali using a mobile device. The prohibition notice:

a) directed that "all demolition work within 9 metres of the boundary adjacent to Mann Street" stop until an Inspector was satisfied that the risk had been remedied;

b) identified the risk of injury to workers and other persons being hit by falling or flying objects as a result of an excavator being used to demolish concrete and bricks adjacent to the footpath of Mann Street; and

c) required:

i) the elimination of the risk to workers and other persons by providing adequate hoarding;

ii) the development of a demolition plan for the remaining work identifying the risks and control measures for the area adjacent to Mann Street; and

iii) Inspector Kearney to be satisfied that the prohibition notice had been complied with.

8. Inspector Kearney took a number of photographs on 20 August 2020 for the purpose of identifying the area that the prohibition related to. In his discussion with Mr Giovenali, Inspector Kearney identified a series of concrete footings running parallel to Mann Street in the north-eastern corner of the site. He identified in his discussion with Mr Giovenali that the 3rd footing in from Mann Street was about 9m from the edge of the footpath and marked the area where the work was to be prohibited. In his notes made on the day, Inspector Kearney wrote that the prohibition area was 9m from Mann Street and he included the entry "(3rd footing)".

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/197af6230e7f47a20bde5936)

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