A Sydney-based tree service company has been ordered to pay a substantial penalty following a workplace incident that left an employee with severe brain trauma. General Forest Tree Surgeon Pty Ltd faced conviction in the NSW Industrial Court and received a $70,000 fine for safety violations that resulted in a November 2022 accident.
The incident occurred at a residential construction site in Elderslie where company personnel were engaged in tree removal operations. Workers were tasked with pruning and removing several trees, including a 10-meter Celtis Australis specimen. Despite multiple toolbox meetings and verbal instructions to avoid designated exclusion zones during cutting operations, critical safety measures were absent from the worksite.
Justice Ingmar Taylor’s investigation revealed that while witches’ hats demarcated the drop zone perimeter, the area lacked physical barriers, warning signage, or a dedicated spotter to monitor the most hazardous phases of the operation. The court heard that an experienced arborist was performing ‘step cutting’ procedures—a technique involving manual breaking and dropping of trunk sections—when the incident occurred.
The injured worker, Guven Simsek, who had been employed with the family-run business for less than four months and possessed no formal arboriculture qualifications, entered the restricted area without authorization or work-related purpose. Although the arborist had previously noticed Simsek without proper head protection and instructed him to wear his helmet, the worker was struck in the head by a falling trunk section while looking downward within the drop zone.
The impact resulted in significant head trauma subsequently diagnosed as a frontal lobe brain contusion. Justice Taylor emphasized that the risk of workers being struck by falling debris was both foreseeable and preventable through straightforward, cost-effective safety implementations. The judgment notably stated that verbal warnings represent the ‘lowest order of control’ and cannot substitute for physical safeguards, particularly when workers demonstrate inattention or disregard protocols.
The court recognized the company’s immediate guilty plea, demonstrated remorse, and substantial post-incident safety enhancements as mitigating factors. These improvements included hiring safety specialists to overhaul protocols, implementing mandatory physical barriers and signage, requiring site supervisors to act as spotters, introducing rope-assisted branch lowering systems, and establishing annual external safety audits. The company reported no subsequent incidents since implementing these measures.
In addition to the financial penalty, the court ordered payment of SafeWork NSW’s legal costs and directed that fifty percent of the fine be allocated to the regulatory authority.