College admits liability for limb fall – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
College admits liability for limb fall
Posted December 14, 2011 15:08:12
An Adelaide private school has admitted liability over a tree limb which fell on a sports day, injuring three people.
Cedar College at Northgate has pleaded guilty in the Industrial Court to breaching safety laws.
The limb of an inronbark fell on on a windy day in September 2009.
The court heard an arborist had recommended the tree be pruned, then removed in two separate reports, the latter in 2007.
Lawyers for the college told the hearing the college did not understand the risk posed and ought to have removed the tree within the 18-month period, but had not.
Prosecutor Michael Opacic for SafeWork SA told the court one of the victims, John Alexander Duthie, was now a paraplegic as a result of the incident.
There will be more submissions to the court next week.
Topics: courts-and-trials, law-crime-and-justice, accidents—other, disasters-and-accidents, accidents, sa, northgate-5085, adelaide-5000
VA.PHC 
It seems like a good thing to have an arborist on staff. It seems like an even better thing to take that arborist’s advice when it comes to tree safety. Poor paraplegic guy :(. That must have been SOME branch!!!!
Robyn :)
December 15, 2011 at 5:11 am