WorkSafe issues $650k fine after fatal work incident

A huge fine has been issued after a road safety barrier tragically crushed a truck driver at a Nar Nar Goon depot, claiming his life.

The accident involving the 34-year-old truck driver has resulted in a $650,000 fine against Saferoads, trading as Road Safety Rentals. In Melbourne’s Magistrates Court on 24 May, the company pleaded guilty to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Back in November 2021, a forklift was being operated to unload a number of stacked road safety barriers, all weighing around 925 kilograms, when an unrestrained barrier fell from the truck onto the delivery driver underneath.

The driver sustained crush injuries to the head and neck area and ultimately died at the scene. The company was fined $425,000 for failing to ensure persons other than employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety. A further $225,000 was added for failing to ensure that the workplace and the means of entering and exiting it were safe and without risks to health.

An investigation by WorkSafe found that while there were standard operating procedures and a safe work statement administered and prepared for the task on site, the company failed to enforce the procedures and did not notify the delivery drivers of that information, leading to the fatal incident.

WorkSafe was able to occupy CCTV footage that displayed habitual practices of both loading and unloading while there were people around the trucks and in the area that the forklift was operating.

This provided clear evidence of the companies lack of safety precautions, as they could have controlled the risk by ensuring that the individuals who were not employees were physically removed from the mobile plant while the loading and unloading process was occurring. The communication with the delivery drivers about the high danger of that area, was not relayed.

WorkSafe executive director health and safety Narelle Beer said the tragedy could have been avoided if the company had enforced its own policies and procedures when it comes to loading and unloading freight.

“This worker, like all of us, had the right to return home safely at the end of the day,” Beer said.

“What this case sadly highlights is that it’s not enough just to have written procedures in place – employers must also ensure everyone in the workplace is aware of them and that they are being adhered to.”

A similar incident claimed the lives of two Irish workers in East Perth back in 2015, when concrete panels were being unloaded from a trailer. The two men were in an area used for smoking breaks when concrete tilt panels being lifted by a crane slipped and fatally crushed the two men underneath.

Eerily similar to this incident, the Deputy Chief Magistrate at the time, Elizabeth Woods, said the deaths were “preventable” because there were “simple and practical steps” the company could have taken to ensure the panels were secure.

WorkSafe has added a list of procedures that employers using mobile plants such as forklifts should ensure:

• A traffic management plan is in place for pedestrians and powered mobile plant, and it is reviewed and updated as appropriate.
• Pedestrians are separated from moving machinery and that an effective communication system between operators, transport contractors and ground staff is in place.
• Signage is in place and barriers are erected where appropriate.
• Visibility issues are identified and controlled, particularly if lighting is poor.
• Workers operating equipment have the appropriate high-risk work licences, as required.
• Machinery and vehicles and regularly inspected and maintained by a suitably qualified person.
• Employees and health and safety representatives are consulted about health and safety issues.