A project manager has been cleared in a major work safety case involving the electrocution of a driver whose tip truck hit live power lines.
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But the corporation in control of the site where Michael Booth, 48, lost his life in 2012 has been found guilty of clear and serious safety breaches.
The verdicts were handed down late on Tuesday in a case that has been keenly watched interstate and in New Zealand.
It involved one of the first prosecutions of a company's project manager under new nationally harmonised work safety laws.
Mr Booth, of Gunning, was delivering a load of gravel-type material to a road resurfacing project run by Kenoss Contractors on Barry Drive in March 2012.
He took the load to a small, fenced off compound at the work site, where other piles of material and piping lay.
Mr Booth's tip truck either connected with or came close to the power lines, creating an electrical arc strong enough to deflate the tyres and leave burn marks on the road.
He jumped out of the truck, collapsed, and later died.
The prosecution, represented by Sara Gul, had alleged serious safety breaches contributed to the fatality.
There were no signs warning of the live power lines, and the compound had not been locked and appeared as if it was designed for dumping material.
Workers had apparently been told not to use the smaller compound, but there was no evidence of any consideration of visitors like Mr Booth, who had been to the site 13 times for his trucking company.
Nothing had been done to turn off the power lines during the work, and there were no flags or visual warnings attached to make them more noticeable. No spotter was used and access to the work site was poorly managed.
Kenoss Contractors Pty Ltd and its project manager Munir al-Hasani were taken to the ACT Industrial Court.
Kenoss never appeared in the hearing and is in liquidation, but was found guilty on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr al-Hasani defended the charge against him without a lawyer at hearing earlier this year.
Industrial Magistrate Lorraine Walker found the prosecution had not proved al-Hasani had a large enough level of control or influence in the company for him to meet the definition of an "officer", which is drawn from corporate law.
Ms Walker said he fulfilled the tasks typically delegated to a project manager.
"His role was to implement his projects," she said.
But the court found there was only "speculative" evidence that his role went beyond an operational one.
"I'm not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that his role rises to the level of an officer within the company," she said.
"For that reason, the charge against him is dismissed."
Ms Walker found Mr al-Hasani clearly breached a safety duty as an employee, but that he was not charged as such.
She dismissed the arguments that he made during the hearing earlier this year that Kenoss had transferred responsibility for the site before Mr Booth's death.
Kenoss will be sentenced at a later date.
