Tasmanian Lamb Company in Ipswich court after Anthony Bennett crushed by truck

A Tasmanian meat company has faced a southeast Queensland court after one of its drivers was crushed to death when a truck with a faulty handbrake rolled on him while he was cleaning it.

Anthony Bennett. Picture: Workplace Health and Safety Queensland

A Tasmanian meat company has faced an Ipswich court after one of its drivers was crushed to death when a truck with a faulty handbrake rolled on him while he was cleaning it.

Tasmanian Lamb Company Pty Ltd was charged with one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty – exposing a person to risk of death, serious injury or illness.

The director of the company pleaded guilty on behalf of it on Monday, July 22 in Ipswich Magistrates Court.

Work health and safety prosecutor Gretchen McKinley said the victim, Anthony “Tony’’ Bennett, was an employee of the company at the time he died at the age of 56 on August 10, 2021.

“Mr Bennett, a delivery driver, was killed when the truck he was driving at the workplace rolled back and pinched him against a concrete wall,” she said.

“Around 3am (his) first task was to reverse the truck into the washdown bay at the workplace and clean it out so that meat, fat, blood etc was not contaminated, before loading it with deliveries for the day ahead.

“Mr Bennett was trying to position the truck at the wash bay and footage shows his attempts.

“The truck kept rolling back. First, Mr Bennett jumped out and threw a timber palette under the back wheels and then repeatedly attempted to park the truck.

“Inexplicably and tragically, he ended up behind it, crushed between the back of the truck and the concrete wall of the wash bay.

“Mr Bennett was found 40 minutes later when a colleague arrived for his shift.

“Investigation ultimately revealed that the truck had a faulty handbrake, although Mr Bennett had used the same truck to make 13 deliveries the previous day.”

Anthony Bennett. Picture: Workplace Health and Safety Queensland

Mr Bennett’s sister said she received the tragic news from an officer at Beenleigh police station at 5.20am while she was on her way to a gym.

“She told me that Tony (Mr Bennett) had died in an accident at work and she couldn’t provide me with any other details,” she said.

“We didn’t know where he was, what had happened and what would happen next.

“Culturally it is important for us to be with our loved one as soon as we can.

“Another cultural practice we have when a loved one passes is to dress and prepare (deceased) for the final journey.

“I was advised by the undertaker that Tony’s injuries were so severe that this was not possible.

“She (the undertaker) said that he had been crushed in an accident and he had sustained significant trauma to his legs, chest, neck and head.

“We saw Tony for the first time on Thursday night at the funeral home and it was sort of emotional and overwhelming for me.”

Ms McKinley said Mr Bennett had worked for the company since its beginnings.

She said he was a very experienced truck driver who had a similar role at a different employer for about 10 years.

“What is significant is that the defendant had been operating out of these premises for a month or so and earlier at a nearby premises for six months,” she said.

“Despite multiple traps being used on a daily basis by various workers, which involve the daily pre-start wash and loading, the defendant had not made any meaningful attempt to assess the risk at the workplace or control ... hazards and risks of vehicle operation at the workplace (including) separating workers or pedestrians from vehicles.”

Defence lawyer April Freeman said the probability of risk in terms of interaction between a person and vehicle in this case was high, but the underlying cause of the incident was the faulty handbrake on the truck.

“The company did not know about that, nor would they be expected to, given the truck was regularly serviced,” she said.

“It had been inspected by an independent mechanic in February, 2021 prior to the truck being acquired by the business.

“It had been driven by a number of workers in the week leading up to the incident in August without any issues arising.”

Ms Freeman also said the company had work safety systems in place.

“It had a system of daily pre-start checks on the trucks where the drivers had to document issues with trucks before they were allowed to take them out,’’ she said.

“That was reviewed by management on a daily basis.

“(They had) a system of doing safety inductions with workers and on the job training for new starters with more experienced workers.

“They also had a system of holding regular toolbox meetings with workers to discuss safety issues in the workplace.

“There have been a number of steps taken following the incident to remedy the (type of circumstance) that comes before this court today, including implementing a number of practical measures to improve the safety of its operations and to avoid any recurrence of the circumstances that led to the same incident.”

Acting magistrate Paul Byrne adjourned the case and will hand down his judgment at a later date.