By Alesha Capone
A retailer has been fined $150,000 without conviction after a truck driver’s foot was crushed when his leg was run over twice at a Laverton North workplace.
Spotlight Pty Ltd pleaded guilty in the Werribee Magistrates Court earlier this month to failing to ensure that the workplace and the means of entering and leaving it were safe.
The court heard that the incident occurred as the driver walked along a marked pedestrian area at the company’s distribution centre in Laverton North.
The man was returning to his truck while a shipping container was being unloaded from it by a mobile straddle carrier. As the carrier moved forward, it struck the driver and its front wheel ran over his leg.
A Spotlight employee saw the driver was trapped and signalled to the carrier operator, who reversed the transporter back over the driver’s leg.
The driver’s left knee was dislocated, his ankle broken and his foot crushed in the incident. His toe was amputated as a result.
The court hard that Spotlight had made a number of changes at its distribution centre since the incident, including marking out designated loading zones, pedestrian exclusion zones, driver safety zones and re-marking the pedestrian path.
The court heard the company also decommissioned the carrier and now employs a security officer at the entry point to the loading area, to direct truck drivers when they arrive.
WorkSafe’s executive director of health and safety Julie Nielsen described the Laverton North incident as “a terrible example of what can happen when mobile machinery and pedestrian workers mix”.
“Unfortunately it is not an isolated example, and there have been many incidents involving machinery and pedestrians where workers have been seriously injured or even killed,” she said.
“All employers must ensure machinery and pedestrians are adequately separated and that systems and processes are in place to protect workers at all sites.”
