The company earlier pleaded guilty to a Health and Safety at Work Act charge for failing to ensure the health and safety of its workers, exposing a worker to a risk of serious injury or death, carrying a maximum penalty of $1.5m.
The saga began on May 25, 2021, at its building site in Newmarket’s Kingdon St.
At the time, the director of the company was Jin Woo Heo, whose father Jae Ho Huh worked as a consultant for the company and was also referred to as a chairman or director, the court heard.
Companies Office records show Huh, who is listed as living in a $4.4m home in Mission Bay, became sole director in December last year.
The victim was a Korean man employed by KNCC as a truck driver and purchasing assistant, according to a summary of facts read in court by Judge Bonnar.
He also acted as the operator of a crane fitted to the truck, despite a lack of evidence that he had the training required to operate the crane.
On the day of the accident, he was told to lift a stack of 120 construction sheets off the truck using the crane.
He asked a 17-year-old employed through a labour-hire company to help him.
But the teenager complained it was not part of his job description and he did not have the requisite experience.
After complaints to his employer and the company’s director, the teen agreed to assist.
The crane operator looped slings or straps around the unsecured load of sheets using the “basket method”, by which they are placed loosely around the load and not tightened before fitting.
Meanwhile, the teenager was told to stand and hold a restraint line for the load, though he was unaware where the sheets were to be placed.
As the crane operator stood at the controls and the load began to rise, it touched other materials and began to sway. One of the slings slid out, followed by the sheets, which struck the operator on the left side of his face and forced his head into the crane.
He suffered a concussion and severe facial injuries, requiring surgery.
In a victim impact statement, he said he had suffered nerve damage, needed surgery both in New Zealand and Korea and had not received any support, apology or financial help from KNCC.
He described a sense of emotional harm and dissatisfaction at the company’s lack of compassion and said he felt embarrassed having his photo taken at his daughter’s wedding. He had also become emotional, angry and sensitive since the accident.
Judge Bonnar said the company failed to follow a range of health and safety procedures related to the crane. It did not carry out a risk assessment, failed to identify rigging and slinging of a load as hazards, and did not calculate the weight of the load before commencing the lift.
Neither the victim nor the teenager had seen the safe operating procedure for using a truck crane, while other risk management controls such as a safe exclusion zone were not in place.
Both WorkSafe and the company’s lawyers agreed the offence was at the top end of the “medium culpability band”, Judge Bonnar said.
He adopted a starting point of $550,000 and applied a 10 per cent uplift for its previous adverse safety history. He reduced the sentence by 25 per cent for its early guilty plea, with further, smaller discounts for the fact he was ordering reparation to the victim, the company’s stated remorse and its co-operation with investigators.
The end sentence was $380,000, but KNCC’s chief operating officer, who was in the public gallery during sentencing, had filed affidavits about the company’s shaky financial position. That included a $985,000 net loss in 2021, another significant loss in 2022 and the fact there had been no work at the Kingdon St site since July 2021.
It also did not have any major upcoming projects and was unable to obtain further finance, loans or shareholder advances.
Judge Bonnar reduced the total fine to $240,000 to be paid at $5000 a month over the next four years.
The victim was awarded reparation of $20,000 for emotional harm and $11,882 for financial losses.
KNCC was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of about $1400.
