A family-owned company with one of Perth’s largest engineering workshops is being prosecuted over the death of a worker in 2019.
State government agency WorkSafe announced today it has commenced prosecution action against Bassendean company Hofmann Engineering over the death of a worker in May 2019.
The family-owned company has been charged with failing to provide a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing the death of an employee.
The worker, Nam Huu Nguyen, was employed by Hofmann in its fabrication workshop, where he was welding large gear segments with the aid of a welding manipulator.
WorkSafeWA said the boom of the welding manipulator fell suddenly onto the worker, resulting in fatal crush injuries.
The case has been listed for mention in the Midland Magistrates Court on July 25, and the company is yet to enter a plea to the charge.
Established in Perth in 1969, Hofmann is a third-generation family business.
A book published in 2019 to mark 50 years in business was dedicated to Mr Nguyen, whose death is believed to be the only one in the company’s history.
“As a family company, we lost one of our own and we are doing all that we can to ensure that no other family ever suffers as Nam’s family have suffered,” the book’s foreword stated.
Hofmann has prided itself on investing heavily in R&D and modern equipment, with a focus on precision engineering of gears for the resources and energy sectors.
The company employs nearly 400 people in WA and has expanded to have operations in Victoria, Queensland, South America and North America.
It had total revenue last financial year of $142 million.
