Man crushed by steel beams says he 'scrambled' to get out of the way

Justin Jones Bailey was standing in the tray of the truck as the 12-metre-long beams, in two bundles of three, were being lifted and unloaded with a Demag gantry crane, at a building site in Doyalson.

On this occasion, as the crane operator began to lift the bundles, they rotated, creating a swinging action.

Mr Bailey said he was standing on his right leg when the beam swung into him and crashed him between the pack that was stationary and the pack that was being lifted.

He later described his position as being between the equivalent weight of two big four-wheel drives in front of him and two big four-wheel drives behind him.

"As soon as I finished wrapping the chains, I stood up and was about to begin moving to a safe area away from the beam when all of a sudden, the beam began being lifted," Mr Bailey said. He said he quickly scrambled to get out of the way.

"So all I've done is shit myself and tried to get the hell out of the way," Mr Bailey said.

He heard banging, which was after the beams attached to the crane pivoted on his leg.

"I heard the beams collide together down one end, and then the other end," he said.

Mr Bailey's evidence was that Mr Learmonth did not wait for him to give a signal, or at least move to a safe area, before he lifted the beams. Mr Bailey stated he was in excruciating pain, and an ambulance was called.

"All I knew was that I was in trouble," Mr Bailey said. "I knew that there was a hell of a lot of pain, and I lay down on the truck, and there were quite a number of choice words. Not aimed at anyone, but just, you know."

Mr Bailey said he remembered Mr Learmonth apologising, and that when he was in the ambulance, the ambulance officer told him that he had been out here at the same premises, a few months earlier, to treat the owner, who himself had an accident.

The rule of operating a crane was that if anyone was in danger, you didn't operate it, Mr Bailey said.

"If there's anyone in the vicinity, you do not operate the crane," he said.

"If you feel that that person is any sort of danger, you ask them to remove themselves ... If they refuse to remove themselves from the dangerous area, nothing happens until they are out of the way. If you've got to call the police to move them out of the way before you lift anything, you call the police and get them removed. Nothing happens until no one is in the vicinity."

The incident occurred about 1.15pm on September 21, 2018, and was first brought to court by way of a statement of claim in March 2021, and has since been subject to a series of amendments.

Ultimately, a case was brought against KMAR Engineering, for whom the crane operator, Peter Learmonth, was working.

Mr Bailey's evidence was that Mr Learmonth had not waited until he was out of the way, nor communicated either verbally or by hand signals that he was going to start using the crane.

The court heard that Mr Learmonth had directed Mr Bailey to stand in the tray of the truck.

His case was that there was no explanation for Mr Learmonth's action, but for negligence, specifically that he did not keep a proper lookout for people in the crane's path, and that his employer was liable for that negligence.

The risk was foreseeable, the probability of harm was high, and the likely seriousness of the harm was also significant and could include death.

"The burden of taking precautions is low, as all one has to do is satisfy oneself that there is no person in the pathway of the crane before moving loads," the court was told in submissions for Mr Bailey.

"It is clearly appropriate that a crane operator not expose persons in its path to risk of collision with the load."

More specifically, the negligence involved failure to exercise reasonable care, the placing of Mr Bailey in a position of peril, failure to keep a proper look out, failure to warn the plaintiff of the location of the beam, failure to operate the crane with due skill, care and attention; failure to take steps to avoid the beam hitting the plaintiff, and failure to obtain confirmation from the plaintiff that it was safe to operate the crane.

Other failures included failure to provide proper training, to provide proper plant and equipment, and failure to manage risks to health and safety. There was a failure to have safe procedures around safe zones and exclusion zones, and interactions between the driver and the crane operator.

Mr Bailey's claim related to both the physical, ongoing nature of his injuries, as well as psychological injuries which included persistent depressive disorder, chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and complex regional pain syndrome.