A prestigious Melbourne private school has been handed a six-figure fine over the death of a beloved groundskeeper who was killed when he was struck by a tree branch.
Haileybury College was penalised $140,000 in the County Court of Victoria after pleading guilty to breaching workplace safety laws over the incident which left Kym Page dead at its Berwick campus more than four years ago.
But the school's unofficial costs are set to be considerably more significant — the court heard that Haileybury has offered to "educate unconditionally" Mr Page's two young children, which will cost the college about $1 million.
Judge Frank Gucciardo acknowledged that Haileybury's efforts to address the harm it caused had been "substantial", but said it had still seriously breached its duties.
In February 2018, the father-of-two's body was discovered by a woman who was walking with her children along the Cardinia Creek park, near the school.
There were two chainsaws next to Mr Page, as well as a large eucalyptus branch and a pile of smaller branches.
A post-mortem later revealed that he had died of head injuries.
Judge criticises school's 'significant failure'
The court heard that no one witnessed the groundskeeper's death, but he had likely been killed by the branch he was cutting, which was still attached to the tree.
"Such a large branch when hung up in this fashion would be under significant forces of compression, resulting in stored energy being released during cutting, which allowed the piece to move and ... result in violent and unpredictable movement," Judge Gucciardo said.
Hours earlier, Mr Page and a colleague had discovered that strong winds had caused the branch to come down but they were told to "leave it alone" by their supervisor, who was meant to contact an arborist.
But the court heard that never eventuated.
Judge Gucciardo said a "significant failure" had taken place even though Mr Page was not "instructed to do the work".
"The area was not roped off, the right equipment was not available, there was no further information, instruction or training given about the situation of the tree in question and how to deal with it," the judge said.
An expert arborist brought in by WorkSafe after the incident later found significant failures in how the college handled such incidents up until that point.
The court heard that there was no documented decision-making process to work out who was responsible for tree works, and there was no clear system in place for the use of personal protective equipment when using machinery like chainsaws.
The court was also told that before the tragic incident, there were no hard hats or helmets at the school, and that eye and ear protection was the only thing given to workers to protect them.
It heard that tree risks were not discussed at monthly health and safety meetings.
School paid victim's wages after he died
Mr Page's death continues to have a devastating impact on his family.
Heart-wrenching details were aired in court about the moment his wife, Catherine Agrotis, rushed to the college campus where she saw her husband in the coronial van.
Ms Agrotis, a teacher, ultimately had to leave her job because the school she worked at was opposite Haileybury College.
She told the court that after the tragic incident Haileybury "unquestioningly" offered money to pay for Mr Page's funeral and continued to pay his wage for three years.
"This enabled her, she wrote, to get her life and future in some order," Judge Gucciardo said.
"She also acknowledged with gratitude the college's offer to educate unconditionally her two young children, free of educational fees, which was prospectively a substantial amount."
