WA resort fined $60k for injured gardener

The owner of Broome-based Cable Beach Club Resort has been fined $60,000 in relation to a gardener who fell from a Squirrel elevated work platform (EWP).

Two independent experts concluded, on inspecting the machinery in use by the gardener at the time of the accident, that it was unfit for safe use because of its faulty ballasts and unworkable rear stabilisers.

The motor powering the elevator had begun to shudder after its ignition, causing the Squirrel to topple while extended to its full 6.5 metres. The worker subsequently hit his head on a concrete kerb, causing "severe brain injury" and a permanent disability.

The fine was issued last week.