Clayton’s Towing Service awaiting court hearing decision over alleged workplace injury

The fate of a major Sunshine Coast towing company will be decided imminently after a firefighter was allegedly injured during a winching gone wrong.

Clayton's Towing owner Mike Clayton.

A well-known Sunshine Coast company accused of failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty and seriously injuring a firefighter must wait for a magistrate to hand down their final decision.

Clayton’s Towing Service Pty Ltd has been subject to a hearing after it entered a plea of not guilty on October 11, 2023 to one charge of failing to comply with workplace health and safety duty – category two.

It is alleged on November 8, 2019 a Clayton’s tow truck had been sent to Lake Cooroibah to winch a bogged fire truck late at night when it was dark.

The tow truck operator had strung the 8mm chain around a nearby tree, attached a snatch block and connected the winch rope to the fire truck.

When the winch activated, the tension allegedly broke the chain causing the winch rope and snatch block to catapult and hit rural firefighter Ross Nisbet.

Documents had stated Mr Nisbet was standing between the two trucks at the time and he suffered a compound fracture to his femur.

Maroochydore Court House. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Prosecutor Sarah Cartledge and defence counsel Ben McMillan gave their final submissions on the fifth day of the hearing on September 18, after previously hearing expert evidence in regard to safety procedures.

Ms Cartledge told the court it must determine whether an appropriate exclusion zone was implemented during the incident and whether the company had provided adequate training to their operators in regards to exclusion zones.

Ms Cartledge reminded the court evidence from several firefighters which had been present during the incident indicated no exclusion zone had been established.

She also said seven of the witness firefighters had told the court they were not given any safety briefing prior to the winching.

The prosecutor noted in CCTV footage previously shown to the court several firefighters were seen standing in what would have been the exclusion zone if one had been put in place.

Ms Cartledge said there was no active fire threat at the time of the incident, at most there may have been spot fires, and therefore there was no urgency in regard to the winching.

Mr McMillan opened his statement by reminding the court this was not a simple case, with the company being liable to significant penalties if found guilty.

He said the winching operator had 15 years’ experience and had received training in regard to exclusion zones.

Mr McMillan submitted to the court company operators were given appropriate safety training to the policies at the time.

He reminded magistrate Rod Madsen of his written submissions outlining why an expert opinion on exclusion zones heard previously in the hearing should be given no weight.

The court heard the winching operator had privately spoken to the fire crew’s officer in charge to relay safety instructions, which would have not been caught on CCTV.

Mr McMillan said in evidence heard by the court several witnesses had heard a voice declaring winching was about to commence and another recalled being told to move further away.

After final submissions concluded, Mr Madsen declared he will make his decision shortly and relay the result to all the parties electronically.