NT cattle station contractor ordered to pay compensation to employee injured in barrel explosion

A Northern Territory rancher was fined $ 20,000 in compensation to a young wrestler who was badly burned in an AVGAS explosion at remote Montejinni Station, 200 miles southwest of Katherine.

Important points:

• Court documents show that Aaron Kerr did not seek medical treatment for his employee until six days after the AVGAS explosion
• The 18-year-old worker suffered severe burns and internal bleeding
• This is the first time a contractor has been sentenced to pay damages instead of a fine

The 18-year-old worker was left alone with first and second degree burns for six days before being rushed to the hospital.

Aaron Kerr, trading as Kerr Contracting and Co., pleaded guilty to two charges of reckless behavior with the risk of death or injury in Darwin District Court on Wednesday.

“This is the first time the courts have made this order [for compensation] and it is separate from the injured worker compensation claims that the injured worker received, “an NT Worksafe spokesman said in a statement.

The court heard the young employee, who did not want to be identified, and a colleague using a battery-powered angle grinder to cut off the lid of an AVGAS drum after it was washed out in April 2019 when residual gas ignited and exploded.

The employee suffered severe burns to his hands, arms, face and airways.

Court documents show that Kerr and another employee “decided the burns weren’t that severe,” even though the young employee told them his pain was “10 out of 10.”

The wrestler was taken to the homestead, where the station manager was told that the injuries were caused by lighting a gas grill.

According to the records, the employee complained of fever, sore throat, cramps and intestinal bleeding in the following days, but had to go back to work four days later to transport the cattle.

The 18-year-old was rushed to the Katherine Hospital emergency room six days after the explosion.

ABC News: Iskhandar Razak

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In a statement, NT Worksafe – the Northern Territory’s health and safety agency – said the first aid facilities were so simple that treatment included uncooked drilling water mixed with veterinary antiseptic that was used to treat the burns.

The regulator said the young wrestler was “ridiculed and verbally abused by Mr. Kerr.”

According to the court documents, the employee about 500 meters from the train station said he was unable to lead his horse across a small stream because of the burns on his hands.

Kerr roared words like, “F *** off home you sooky c ***”.

It wasn’t until six days after the explosion that the 18-year-old was rushed to the emergency room at Katherine Hospital, where he was quickly transported to the Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment.

He suffered first and second degree burns on seven percent of his body that were infected and internal bleeding.

In its statement, NT WorkSafe said that Kerr had a duty of care to protect the young ringtone.

“Mr. Kerr completely and completely missed his duty in this incident,” said Bill Esteves, chief executive of NT WorkSafe.

“It seems that the culture of his workplace was one of the stoicism in which people were expected to harden, just get on with work.”

Mr Esteves said more than half a dozen people at Montejinni Station were aware of the wrestler’s burns and no one had intervened.

“When he was finally evacuated from the train station, he was left alone at the Top Springs Hotel to fend for himself,” said Mr. Esteves.

A passerby drove the wrestler nearly 300 kilometers to the Katherine Hospital.

Aaron Kerr was asked to pay the injured employee $ 20,000 in compensation and was given a two-year pledge.