Published: 13 December 2024
Cutri Fruit Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Mildura County Court yesterday after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure persons other than employees weren’t exposed to health and safety risks.
In January 2022, the 70-year-old labour hire worker was performing just his second shift at the workplace when he and another worker fell from a trailer as it was being towed by a tractor on public roads between farm sites.
The man sustained serious head injuries, including a fractured skull, and died later that night in hospital. The other worker who fell from the trailer was not injured.
The court heard workers were required to travel to different locations at the workplace to pick fruit and place it in bins sitting on two trailers, which were then towed in tandem by the tractor.
Cutri Fruit had designed and manufactured the trailers to carry double-stacked fruit bins. Each trailer featured platforms at the front and sides to allow fruit pickers to empty their picking bags into the bins – however they were not designed to carry passengers.
WorkSafe's investigation found four workers were riding on platforms on the two trailers at the time of the incident, despite the company’s orchard manager and director warning against the practice in a message to staff just a week earlier.
The company admitted it should have reduced the risk of serious injury from workers falling by not having permanent platforms on the trailers and giving workers directions on how to travel between locations.
It was also reasonably practicable for Cutri Fruit to provide portable steps for workers to access bins on the trailers, and implement a procedure for the tractor operator to remove the steps and ensure no one was riding the trailers before towing them.
WorkSafe Executive Director Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said duty holders must address health and safety hazards in all aspects of work, including how workers travel between different work locations.
"Riding around on any type of machinery or equipment that isn't designed to carry people is incredibly dangerous and should never be part of anyone's work," Mr Jenkin said.
"It's frustrating and heartbreaking that a man has lost his life in a workplace incident that could easily have been avoided if safe work practices had been implemented and properly communicated."
AH Vision Pty Ltd, which employed the deceased worker, is also facing charges in relation to the incident.
Recommended ways to control risks when using trailers and attachments:
- Never ride on attachments, including trailers, that are not specifically designed to carry passengers.
- If the attachment is designed to carry people, such as for planting or vegetable harvesting, it must provide the same level of protection as the operator from hazards, in particular safe work platforms with handrails and guarding to reduce the risk of falls, ejection and entanglement.
- If the attachment is not designed to carry people, such as a fruit bin trailer, areas where there is the ability to ride on the trailer should be minimised as much as possible.
- Ensure workers have a safe mode of transport to access work locations and, where that is not available or the distance permits, workers walk to and from such locations.
- Ensure workers receive appropriate induction, training and supervision on the work they are to be involved in and the equipment to be used.
- Implement an effective communication system between vehicle operators and workers around them.