A council southwest of Sydney won't be appealing a $750,000 fine after a Men's Shed volunteer member died while installing irrigation.
SafeWork NSW investigated Camden Council after 69-year-old Garry Todhunter was fatally struck in the back of the head by a 500-metre long PVC pipe at Camden Bicentennial Equestrian Park in 2018.
The council was fined in the NSW District Court in December 2021 after pleading guilty to breaching the Work Health and Safety Act risking death or serious injury.
Judge Wendy Strathdee in her judgment said the risk to the untrained volunteers was foreseeable, feasibly avoidable and, in this instance, no assessment form or any project-specific safety documentation had been prepared.
A Camden Council spokesperson said it accepted the fine.
"Council has implemented new and additional systems, processes and policies to help prevent an incident like this from occurring in the future," a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Men's Shed volunteers were tasked in March 2018 with project managing the irrigation works at the equestrian park, including installing the pipes.
Mr Todhunter was a gardener with little experience of such work alongside volunteer Ronald Gunn, and both had no training before commencing the job, the judge found.
With no supervision from trained council members, on July 3 the volunteers were installing the PVC piping. A tractor and another vehicle helped move it around blind corners, as it often became stuck on star pickets.
While being the pipe was being towed it struck Mr Todhunter in the back of the head, and dragged Mr Gunn before he was able to push it off his back.
Mr Todhunter died a week later from serious head injuries, while Mr Gunn sustained some grazing.
"Mr Todhunter and Mr Gunn had no training in the task that was allocated to them by the defendant, and the defendant knew that to be the case," Judge Strathdee said.
"The task that was to be performed was way beyond the experience, training and capacity of Mr Todhunter, and the defendant should have been aware of that."
The judge said the council's "flagrant disregard" for volunteers' safety was particularly concerning given it engages with more than 200 volunteers to complete work in a number of its facilities.
SafeWork NSW's Rick Bultitude said volunteers also fell under work health safety legislation and that adequate risk assessment must always be conducted.
"And volunteers should never be used to undertake work for which they are either unqualified or untrained to perform," Mr Bultitude said.
Camden council expressed its condolences to all family friends, and community members affected by the tragedy.
AAP has contacted Men's Shed for comment.
