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A cafe owner has dodged a conviction after a young worker was engulfed in flames in a shocking workplace incident.
The 21-year-old casual employee was refuelling a decorative fireplace at the Royal Copenhagen ice cream cafe at Brighton, south of the Adelaide CBD, when it ignited, leaving her with burns to her face, hands, ears and neck.
Company H & T Cook Enterprises and director Tiarne Cook pleaded guilty to breaches of work health and safety laws following the explosion, which happened in August 2018.
The SA Employment Tribunal ordered Cook pay a fine of $18,000 over the breaches.
The business has since been sold, and the new operators have no involvement in the case.
In a published judgment, the tribunal said a glass surround that enclosed the ethanol burner had been incorrectly installed by Cook’s father.
The wrong position of the glass meant the person refuelling had to lean over into the burner, and there was limited access to the filling point.
A smaller plastic bottle was used instead of a specialised jerry can, and staff poured the fuel through the burner mouth instead of the designated filling point.
“(The employee) refuelled in that way when the burner was still hot, and ignition then occurred,” the judgment said.
Safety instructions dictate the burner should be shut off and cooled for 30 minutes before refuelling but, on the day of the incident, a team leader approved a refuel only 10 minutes after extinguishment.
Deputy President Magistrate Stuart Cole said workers at the cafe had been exposed to a “very real” risk of serious harm, and had a right to better protection in the workplace.
The judgment said the young victim’s upper body and head were “engulfed in flames” in the incident, before she was helped by a nurse and firefighter who happened to be nearby.
She underwent painful treatment at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and had experienced “extreme stress and trauma” throughout the ordeal.
But Mr Cole accepted Cook, 29, was “devastated and defeated” by what happened, would not operate a business again and took her health and safety responsibilities seriously.
“The defendants … were caring and highly regarded employers,” he said.
In the case against H & T Cook Enterprises, Mr Cole imposed a conviction but no fine because the now-defunct company would have no means of payment.
But, taking into account circumstances including her good character, young age and possible impediment to her career, no conviction was recorded against Cook.
Mr Cole said she has been without employment, has a mortgage on a home and has been living off the business sale proceeds. She pocketed about $200,000 from the sale of the cafe shortly after the incident.
As well as the fine, which was reduced from $30,000 to $18,000 because of Cook’s guilty plea, she was ordered to pay about $3500 in costs and fees.
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