A construction company director has apologised to the family of a worker who was fatally struck by a heavy grader while working on a Macgregor building site two weeks before Christmas in 2011.
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The death of Wayne Vickery, 45, was described as "shocking" but easily preventable during a sentencing hearing in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Mr Vickery's employer of 10 years, Canberra Contractors, faces hefty fines for breaching its safety obligations on the day of his death.
Mr Vickery was acting as a grade checker, and had crouched down behind the heavy grader to check ground levels for a road in a new residential housing estate in West Macgregor.
The grader that he was guiding began to reverse, and despite the yells of others, it struck him with its ripper, killing him instantly.
Two grave errors combined to create the hazard that caused Mr Vickery's death.
It is an unwavering rule on construction sites that when a grader driver loses eye contact with his checker, he must stop the machine at once.
Checkers are also told to never, under any circumstances, walk behind a grader while it is being operated.
Neither of those rules were followed.
There were also no side mirrors on the grader and no radio communication available, although the company said they were not the industry standard in 2011.
The managing director of Canberra Contractors, a company said to have a "long and proud history" of safe construction work in the ACT, gave evidence about the death on Wednesday.
Paul Macor told the court the company took safety extremely seriously, and had all the right policy, documentation, and procedures in place at the time of Mr Vickery's death.
"We had good training with toolbox inductions, we had good [safe work method statements], we had good people, we had good supervision," Mr Macor said.
"It just wasn't implemented on the day."
Mr Macor had known Mr Vickery and his wife, Fiona, and said the death affected him and the family-run business greatly.
He said they shut down their work sites, offered and continue to offer counselling to staff, organised extra training for working near mobile plants, and conducted reviews of safety procedures and documentation.
The court heard the company lobbied an initially unwilling ACT Government to install a plaque in Mr Vickery's memory at the site.
"Safety is paramount. That's our number one thing that we drill into our workers," he said.
"We want our workers to be safe, we want them to go home to their families."
Mr Macor agreed the death was preventable, and apologised to Mr Vickery's family, many of whom were in the court.
"I'd like to personally say sorry to Fiona and the family. It's been hard not only for you as a family but also as a company," he said.
Canberra Contractor's barrister Ken Archer asked Justice John Burns to consider the company's 32-year unblemished safety record, its clear and genuine remorse, and the early plea of guilty.
Mr Archer highlighted the delay in proceedings, three years of which he attributed to the under-resourced government agency WorkSafe ACT, which investigated and prepared the brief of evidence.
He said the delays had left the case "hanging over everybody", a factor the court should take into account in sentencing.
The Crown, represented by Anthony Williamson, said the fine imposed on the company must be enough to "compel attention" to safety issues.
He said basic errors had led to the death of Mr Vickery, and said the company had been unable to explain why safety policies were not followed.
"It's as simple as this. If the operator had stopped the machine when he lost eye contact, this wouldn't have happened," Mr Williamson said.
Justice Burns will hand down his sentence in late January.
