A Victorian business has been fined $1.130 million for failing to ensure employees wore hi-vis PPE. Tragically whilst working late at night in dark conditions, a worker was struck & killed by a forklift in 2015. The employer has since been found to have breached their safety duties.
Safety Breach Leads to $1M Fine – The worker tragically died at the scene, suffering from fatal spine, chest and pelvis injuries.
The employer, CK Crouch P/L, was found to have breached their safety duties to provide or maintain safe systems of work and failing to provide workers with training under the Victorian OHS Act (2004).
There were many findings and key safety failures arising from this case, and the Court found that:
- lighting would be dimmed in the sheds to reduce stress to the chickens
- there were no requirements for workers to wear hi-vis performing this task
- the worker was wearing dark clothing and not wearing hi-vis at the time of the incident
- the forklift driver had not been inducted or trained
- there were two safe working procedures, but there was no evidence that the workers were aware of nor instructed or trained in safe working procedures around forklifts or loading live chickens into cages
A key reminder to all is that even though you may have procedures in place, it is useless and can have fatal consequences, if your workers’ are not aware of, informed, instructed and trained in these procedures.
National Safe Work Month – with National Safe Work Month coming up in October – this is a tragic but timely reminder of how vital safety is to ensuring that your workers remain safe and get to return home safely to their family and friends.
For more information about National Safe Work Month please read more here.
Source: Safework
Title: Poultry Contractor Fined $1.3M Over Forklift Tragedy
Read Time: 1 Minute