Pre-Christmas forklift safety warning as company fined $175,000

A County Court judge has convicted and fined a Laverton North, Victoria, cold storage company $175,000 after a worker died after being struck and killed by a forklift.

AB Oxford Cold Storage Company Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to workplace health and safety charges before Judge Michael Bourke.

WorkSafe’s investigation of the incident found the company did not have any adequate traffic management system in place when a worker was hit by a forklift and died in 2005.

Sentencing the company, Judge Bourke said there was a pressing backlog of material at the company’s warehouse that had to be moved or stored, pedestrian walkways were crossed by forklifts and as pallets of stock were stacked two high, visibility for forklift drivers was hindered.

He said the forklift driver bore no responsibility for the fatality and that the company’s managers should have known and identified risks which had existed, on and off, for some time.

WorkSafe’s executive director John Merritt said with warehouses and businesses facing their busiest time of the year it was essential they had and enforced high standards of traffic management: “There will be a lot of pressure to get stock into and out of warehouses, shops and shopping centres in the next few weeks, that’s why having good traffic management which separates pedestrians and forklifts saves lives.

“A reflective vest is little protection against a forklift if the business doesn’t have safe systems in place and if it doesn’t ensure drivers are properly trained and licensed and using a seatbelt. At this time of year, many people in these environments are young and/or inexperienced. They’re at risk if they’re not properly inducted and know the rules about working in areas with forklifts or being able to take shortcuts.

“Having safe forklift management practices reduces risks and ensures everyone will make it to Christmas and beyond.”