The son of a worker fatally crushed by a crane on the University of Canberra Hospital construction site is suing an international building giant and a local crane company over the incident.
Justin Holtz is seeking damages for "mental harm caused by the negligence" of Multiplex Constructions and RAR Cranes, according to a statement of claim filed in the ACT Supreme Court.
Mr Holtz's father, 62-year-old Herman Holtz, was killed in August 2016 when an overloaded mobile crane fell on him during the repositioning of a 10.3-tonne generator on the Bruce site.
Queanbeyan-based RAR Cranes owned the crane and employed its driver, Michael John Watts. Herman Holtz worked for Multiplex, the hospital project's principal contractor, and was one of five men guiding Watts when the incident occurred.
Watts received a suspended 12-month jail sentence earlier this year, while five people and companies including Multiplex and RAR Cranes will fight Work Health and Safety Act charges at a hearing in October 2021.
The statement of claim lodged by Sydney solicitor Peter O'Brien to instigate civil proceedings on behalf of Justin Holtz does not specify how much money is sought, but the ACT Supreme Court typically deals with claims that exceed $250,000.
"The plaintiff claims damages for mental harm caused by the negligence of the defendants, in a sum assessed by the court," the document says.
In addition to damages, Justin Holtz also seeks interest and court costs.
His claim details an insistence by Multiplex that the generator had to be shifted to a new position on the date in question.
It says RAR Cranes, a subcontractor on the project, proposed using a 200-tonne slewing crane or a tilt truck to perform the task.
"Those proposals were rejected by [Multiplex]," the statement of claim says.
"It was instead agreed between [Multiplex and RAR Cranes] that the [mobile] crane would be used to move the generator."
Justin Holtz alleges that both companies breached duties of care to protect his father's safety and, by extension, his own mental wellbeing.
He says he has been treated by a psychologist and claims to have suffered "injury, loss and damage, particulars of which will be provided in due course".
"At all material times the risk of injury to the deceased and the plaintiff was not insignificant and was foreseeable," the statement of claim says.
"At all material times a reasonable person in the first or second defendants' position would have taken precautions against the risk of harm to the deceased and the plaintiff.
"The death of the deceased was a result of the breach of duty of care the first and second defendants owed to the deceased and caused the plaintiff loss and damage."
In his claim, Justin Holtz alleges 15 breaches of duties of care by Multiplex and 22 by RAR Cranes.
They include not implementing RAR Cranes' proposals, failing to stop work because of poor visibility when it got dark, failing to complete a risk assessment, inadequate training, placing the mobile crane into overload, and not taking appropriate action when the crane's audible and visual alarms went off before it tipped over.
The document reveals that Justin Holtz is also a former Multiplex employee, having worked for the company between 2005 and 2012.
Dates for the civil hearing are yet to be set.
