The driver worked for a labour hire firm - so why did the mine pay?
A $3.58 million judgment out of New South Wales delivers a hard lesson: if you control a labour hire worker, you may own the risk.
When a coal mine worker's arm was crushed underground at Appin Colliery in May 2021, the legal question that followed was almost as complicated as his injuries: who bears responsibility for the worker behind the wheel - the mine operator who ran the site every day, or the labour hire company with his name on the payroll?
On May 22, 2026, the NSW Supreme Court gave its answer. Illawarra Coal Holdings Pty Limited, the mine operator, is on the hook for $3,588,174.17 in damages. WorkPac Mining Pty Limited, the labour hire firm that employed the driver, walks away without liability. The reasoning behind that split is essential reading for any HR leader managing a contingent workforce.
The facts are stark. David Ward was a passenger in a specialised underground vehicle - a Driftrunner - being driven by WorkPac employee Adam Carroll. Carroll took the vehicle through a narrow underground passageway and drove too close to a stored piece of equipment called a salter. Ward's left elbow was caught between the door frame of the vehicle and the salter's metal flange. The injury was catastrophic: a shattered, degloved elbow, a 15-hour reconstructive surgery, permanent fusion of the elbow, severe nerve damage, PTSD and no realistic prospect of returning to work as a mechanical tradesperson.
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