Published: 21 August 2023
Peter Stoitse Transport Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today after pleading guilty to failing to provide or maintain safe plant, failing to ensure persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks, and failing to provide or maintain safe systems of work.
The company was also ordered to pay costs of $6,358.
The offending follows earlier convictions and a $490,000 fine against Peter Stoitse Transport in June 2022 after the 2018 death of a tanker driver in an incident at Leongatha.
In the latest prosecution, the court heard a worker raised issues with a tanker he was to drive in February 2020 but a supervisor dismissed the concerns and deemed the truck safe. Driving in Poowong East, the driver realised the brakes were faulty and, as he attempted to slow, the prime mover and trailer drifted in opposite directions and jack-knifed. The driver was taken to hospital with soft tissue and finger injuries.
A WorkSafe investigation found a number of safety issues with the tanker, including inefficiently performing brake slack adjusters, which slowed the reaction time of the trailer brakes, and deflated suspension airbags, which could cause a trailer to roll over.
In June 2020, another worker was driving down Korumburra-Inverloch Road when the trailer suddenly began to sway and the truck lost control before rolling into a ditch. The driver was taken to hospital with bruising and swelling to his forearm.
A WorkSafe investigation found various serious safety issues, including worn brake drums on the prime mover and trailer and worn suspension shackle brushes that needed replacing.
The court heard it was reasonably practicable for the company to ensure its tankers were kept in a safe mechanical condition or replaced and to maintain a system of work to ensure vehicles with reported mechanical defects were not driven until repaired.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Narelle Beer said it was clear the company had not had not drawn lessons from its previous failures.
"It's horrifying that a company can be so negligent as to not learn from a tragedy that cost somebody their life," Dr Beer said.
"WorkSafe will not hesitate to prosecute any employer who puts the lives and safety of their workers at risk while on the road."
To manage work-related vehicle risks employers should:
- Ensure appropriate safe systems of work are in place and that these are regularly monitored, reviewed and, if necessary, revised.
- Ensure regular vehicle inspections, servicing and maintenance are undertaken by suitably competent persons in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations.
- Ensure pre-operations checks are conducted daily on essential components such as brakes, steering, tyres (including pressure), indicators, oil leaks and suspension and have defects rectified by competent persons.
- Not allow untrained, unlicensed or inexperienced people to operate vehicles.
- Implement a system to ensure people are competent to conduct the work - this should include instructions, information about the work, mentoring and assessment, toolbox training and refresher training even for experienced employees.
- Establish appropriate rules and standards for safe road use (including speed limits for travel and manoeuvres) taking into account any load factor of a vehicle, including movement of liquid and its effect on the stability of a vehicle, increased breaking distances due to the surge of liquid within a tank and changing environments and conditions.
- Communicate all safety information to drivers and others (eg load information for those responsible for loading and driving vehicles) to enable them to perform their work in a way that is safe and without risks to health.