Worksafe probe could ‘last months’

A Worksafe investigation into the death of a 27-year-old man at the BGC cement plant in Naval Base on Saturday is likely to take several months.

The Mandurah man was killed after a pile of sand he was working under collapsed and buried him alive.

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said she was unsure how long the investigation would take.

‘‘At this stage there’s no estimate on how long the investigation will take. We never know, but it’s usually a matter of months,’’ she said.

‘‘Usually we look at whether employers have breached any of the Occupational Safety and Health Act — that’s what we always do.

‘‘There can be all sorts of actions taken if an employer is found to be in breach of the act, the most extreme of which is they can be prosecuted.

‘‘But that’s a very long way down the track, literally years later. So it’s not even something we’d be thinking about at the moment.’’

Individuals found to be in breach of the Act, resulting in the death of an employee, are liable to a fine up to $250,000 and or two years imprisonment.

Corporations face a $500,000 fine.