W.A.S.S. Nominees Pty Ltd, which operated as WA Salt Supply, was fined $875,000 by the Fremantle Magistrates Court on 24 April 2025 after pleading guilty to failing to provide and maintain safe plant and, by that failure, causing worker Craig Robertson’s death. WorkSafe Western Australia said the conveyor sometimes slipped and operators sometimes used cardboard to address the problem—a practice that required removing the guard. The regulator could not establish when the guard was removed or whether cardboard was used during the fatal incident.
What happened at the North Coogee facility
Robertson, an experienced plant operator, died on 16 June 2022 after becoming caught in the mechanism of a salt pit conveyor at WA Salt Supply’s North Coogee facility. According to WorkSafe’s prosecution summary, he began work between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. Later, another operator responded to an error at a control panel and found him at the conveyor’s drive-drum end. The official account does not say anyone witnessed the incident.
WorkSafe’s media release and prosecution summary describe the fatal hazard as access to the conveyor’s moving drive drum without effective guarding. Cardboard was visible around the drum when Robertson was found, but the regulator did not establish when the guard had been removed or that cardboard was inserted during the fatal event.
Why cardboard was part of the case
The conveyor sometimes slipped. WorkSafe’s detailed account says operators sometimes placed cardboard between the drive drum and belt to address the slipping, a practice that required removing the guard. Managers at both processing facilities knew cardboard was being used. This establishes a known equipment problem and a known practice that involved taking away a protective barrier; it does not establish that cardboard alone caused Robertson’s death.
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The prosecution summary says the drum drive guard was absent at the time of the incident. When fitted, it was not always securely fixed and could be removed without a tool. Routine maintenance work orders included checking the belt but did not include checking the guarding. WorkSafe could not determine when the guard was removed, so the available account does not identify who removed it or place its removal on a particular shift.
The plea, offence and $875,000 fine
W.A.S.S. Nominees Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to the offence as WorkSafe described it: failing to provide and maintain safe plant at the workplace and, by that failure, causing a worker’s death. The Fremantle Magistrates Court imposed the $875,000 fine on 24 April 2025. The case was prosecuted under Western Australia’s Work Health and Safety Act 2020, which took effect in March 2022.
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WorkSafe characterized the case as the first prosecution for a breach leading to a fatality under that Act since it took effect. That is the regulator’s description of the prosecution’s place in the Act’s history; it is not a broader claim about workplace fatalities or conveyor incidents.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What changed after the incident
After Robertson’s death, a permanent fence was installed around the conveyor to restrict access to moving parts. The fence had a gate with a padlocked clasp and an interlock switch that de-energised the motor when the gate was opened. WorkSafe’s prosecution summary records the cost of the fence, gate and interlock as $13,784.10 including GST.
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The controls addressed access to the hazard rather than relying on workers to avoid the exposed drive drum. WorkSafe Commissioner Sally North said: “Nip points or entrapment points on conveyors must be guarded, and those guards must be effective and well maintained.” She also said: “Where any task requires a person to enter a hazardous area, such as close to a nip point, an isolation and lock out process is required.” Both statements appeared in WorkSafe Western Australia’s 28 April 2025 media release.
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