Tag Archives: Ryan Donoghue electrocuted

Charges Dropped – Fishing company to spend $970k following deckhand death

Ryan Donoghue was electrocuted while on board an Austral Fisheries Pty Ltd prawn trawler after a wave breached the deck while he was using an electric angle grinder. The grinder was plugged into an electrical socket that was not protected by a residual current device and NT WorkSafe charged the company over the death last year. But the workplace regulator has now dropped the charges after the company agreed to enter into a legally enforceable undertaking to spend the cash on health and safety upgrades and community contributions. >click to read<12:21

Austral Fisheries charged over electrocution death on prawn trawler

One of Australia’s largest commercial fishing companies has been charged over the electrocution of a young man on a prawn trawler in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Ryan Donoghue, 20, died in 2013 while cutting rusted shackles using a 240-volt angle grinder which was plugged into a socket without a safety switch on Austral Fisheries Newfish 1 trawler. Mr Donoghues father Steven has spent the past three-and-a-half years pushing for a prosecution and better regulation of Australia’s maritime industry.,,  Austral fisheries faces a maximum penalty of $1.5 million if found guilty. Click here to read the story 13:53