Published: 13 August 2024
Robinson's Unloading Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Heidelberg Magistrates' Court on Friday 2 August after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to provide and maintain a system of work that was safe and without risks to health.
The company was, without conviction, placed on a 12-month Good Behaviour Bond and ordered to pay $40,000 to the court fund and $6,139 in costs.
The court heard in March 2023, a forklift was being used to load a semi-trailer with produce at the Epping market when a worker on the ground stepped out from behind a safety barrier to visually check the truck's load.
The forklift operator could not see the worker due to the load they were carrying and collided with the worker, who suffered serious injuries requiring hospital treatment.
WorkSafe's investigation found Robinson's Unloading did not have an adequate system of work to prevent collisions when pedestrians accessed the loading dock or a documented traffic management plan in place for the segregation of forklifts and pedestrians.
It was reasonably practicable for the company to have devised and communicated to workers a traffic management plan that included the installation of barricades to physically separate mobile plant and workers in the loading area; marking of a designated exclusion zone, driver safety zone and pedestrian walkway; and rules to manage the operation of the loading and unloading area, including that workers maintain a three-metre exclusion zone around operating forklifts.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said control measures, including a traffic management plan, were vital in workplaces where powered mobile plant such as forklifts operate.
"Employers must ensure there are systems in place to physically separate forklifts from those on the ground and, if they are required to be in the same area, that there are pedestrian walkways and exclusion zones in place and adhered to," Mr Jenkin said.
"Sadly, an average of one worker every week is seriously injured in incidents involving forklifts, which is simply unacceptable given the risks are so well known."
Employers using mobile plant such as forklifts should ensure:
- A traffic management plan is in place for pedestrians and powered mobile plant and that 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.