The operators of a prominent recycling company have sought to escape massive penalties for the death of an employee after shutting down the business and resurrecting it under another name.
AB Recycling – listed as a cardboard recycler for Coles, IGA, Foodworks, Bunnings and Westfield – was found guilty of grave safety violations that led to the 2014 death of worker Steve Bower.
A slew of deadly defects in the construction and configuration of a four-metre-high box-stacking lift caused it to come crashing down under a 240-kilogram load, tragically crushing Mr Bower to death, at a warehouse in Melbourne’s north.
The company was found guilty by a County Court jury this week, and has been fined $800,000 in criminal penalties.
But the operators of AB Recycling put the company into voluntary administration after WorkSafe’s investigation, and there now appears no chance it will pay up.
Documents filed with Australia’s corporate regulator reveal that AB Recycling manager Leandro Guisasola set up a new company, High Heat, on May 28 last year, and listed AB Recycling as its sole shareholder.
AB Recycling manager Leandro Guisasola in an advertisement for High Heat.
The next day, shareholding was transferred to Mr Guisasola.
Both businesses…