Forklift incident leads to combined $249,600 company and director fine

A company and its director have been fined a combined $249,600 over a 7 November 2022 incident in which a worker sustained injuries after she was struck by a reversing forklift.

The company pleaded guilty to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 for failing to comply with its duty to workers under section 19(1) of the Act, while the sole director, secretary and shareholder of the company — responsible for the day-to-day management and control of the business at the time of the incident — pleaded guilty to an offence pursuant to section 32 of the Act for failing to comply with his duty as an officer of the business under section 27(1) of the Act.

“Risk control measures for working with moving plant and fixed machinery are well known. Being hit by moving plant or vehicles or injured when working with fixed machinery are preventable hazards we see across our state and across all industries,” SafeWork NSW Commissioner Janet Schorer said.

“Preventing injuries caused by mobile plant, vehicles or fixed machinery is an area for action in SafeWork NSW’s regulatory priorities,” Schorer said. “Having an awareness and assessment of the risks, along with implementation of safe systems of work, is key to reducing the number of incidents related to moving plant.”

The court also issued an adverse publicity order requiring the company to publish a public notice in a local newspaper containing details of the incident and conviction by the court. The company and director have the right to appeal against their sentences.

The full judgments against the company and director are published on the NSW Caselaw website and you can read them here.

Image credit: iStock.com/Pixelci. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.