State cops $900k fine over sniffer dog attack

The state government has been hit with a record $900,000 fine after “fundamental failings” and “glaring errors” led to a Department of Justice employee being attacked by a sniffer dog.

The department pleaded guilty to failing to maintain a safe work environment and causing serious harm to an employee in the Armadale Magistrates Court over the incident at Hakea Prison in 2018.

The court was told the drug detection officer had been attempting to move one of two new dogs from his kennel when the dog suddenly latched onto the officer’s right forearm with its mouth and dragged him into the kennel.

The officer suffered a fractured left arm and lacerations to both arms before escaping the kennel and locking the door.

The lacerations required more than 120 stitches and the officer has since had to undergo further treatment, including four surgeries.

During sentencing, Magistrate Brian Mahon said there had been fundamental failings and glaring errors by the department which could have been avoided by a simple risk assessment.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Darren Kavanagh said the record penalty reflected the repeated breach by the department, which has twice been convicted of similar offenses.

Mr Kavanagh said the two dogs had been transported to WA from Victoria, but no departmental representative had assessed them or implemented the necessary kennel modifications.

“This was an aggressive animal that was intended to be trained in tactical support, use of force and riot control and the department did not ensure the safety of employees required to work with these dogs,” he said.

“The victim of this incident, a handler with a 30 year career, had observed the new dogs fighting with each other, pacing inside their cages and disobeying commands and had reported his concerns to the two co-ordinators of the DDU.

“The subject matter expert at the drug detection Unit had raised several concerns about the dogs and the kennels but these concerns were not acted upon by management and a single handler was instructed to exercise and socialise the two new dogs on his own.

“It’s evident that no risk assessment was done when the drug detection unit added two partly-trained and aggressive dogs to the workplace without providing appropriate training for the handlers or appropriate kennels to house the dogs.

“This resulted in serious injuries and ongoing medical issues for one of their employees that could have been avoided if the department had acted on the concerns he had raised.”