Freight company charged after worker fatally crushed

WorkSafe Victoria has charged freight transport company Norman Carriers Pty Ltd, after a worker was fatally crushed while unloading sections of large steel light poles from a truck at Altona North in June 2020. The 56-year-old man died when two of the sections became unstable and fell off the truck and on to him.

Norman Carriers allegedly breached section 21(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to, so far as reasonably practicable, provide and maintain a safe working environment. WorkSafe alleges that the company also breached section 21(2)(a) of the OHS Act by failing to provide or maintain a safe system of work that would eliminate or reduce the risk of loads becoming unstable and falling from a truck. The company also allegedly breached section 21(2)(e) of the Act by failing to provide information, instruction and training that would enable workers to unload trucks safely.

The matter will be addressed at a filing hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 15 March 2022.

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