Published: 02 October 2024
Inspectors will visit known workplaces in the sector from this week, targeting safety issues around loading and unloading, vehicle maintenance and load restraint.
Sadly, eight truck drivers and garbage collectors engaged in waste and recycling transport have lost their lives at work since 2019, most commonly due to vehicles rolling away or being involved in crashes.
The tragic deaths include two workers crushed between their trucks and brick walls in separate incidents at St Albans in July 2021 and in Melbourne's CBD in June 2023.
In 2022, waste disposal company Country Cart Pty Ltd was convicted and fined a total of $300,000 after the death of a garbage truck driver who was crushed between his truck and a gate while collecting bins at Leongatha South in 2019, due to a faulty parking brake.
In the past five years, more than 400 truck drivers and garbage collectors in the waste and recycling sector have been injured seriously enough to receive workers compensation. Body stressing, falls, being hit by moving objects and vehicle incidents accounted for the majority of injuries.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said the transportation of waste carried unique risks that employers must take every reasonable step to control.
"Workers in the waste transport sector often work in confined conditions with unpredictable loads that can become unstable, while improper maintenance can lead to damaged vehicles, skips, bins and lifting gear – putting workers and others at risk," Mr Jenkin said.
"Sadly, we continue to see serious and sometimes tragic incidents in this sector that could have been prevented, which is why these issues will be a particular focus for our inspectors."
The focus on waste management transport is part of a wider WorkSafe push to improve safety in the heavy vehicle transport industry, through strategic visits, compliance and enforcement, and industry partnerships.
Victorian employers must do everything they can to protect workers and others, including members of the public, from the hazards and risks associated with operating a mobile workplace such as a garbage truck.
This includes being familiar with federal laws and the chain of responsibility, which makes parties other than drivers responsible for heavy vehicles on the road.
To support employers and businesses that generate waste, the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator recently launched a Waste and Recycling Industry Code of Practice to guide the industry on its obligations, common hazards and ways to eliminate or reduce the risks.