Braeside equipment hire company fined $85k after car slams into cherry picker, kills operator
An equipment hire company in Melbourne’s southeast has copped a heavy fine after a sickening incident which saw a cherry picker fall to his death after a passing car slammed into the machine. And WorkSafe says the death could have been prevented.
South East
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A Braeside-based hire equipment company has been ordered to pay $85,000 after a cherry picker operator was thrown to his death in 2017.
The 39-year-old was loading the 26m elevated work platform onto a truck outside the Malcolm Rd factory when he was thrown from the bucket after a passing car slammed into the machine in August.
He suffered a catastrophic brain injury and died in hospital one month later.
The sentence follows a trial in the County Court in February where a jury found United Access Pty Ltd guilty of failing to provide or maintain a safe working environment and ensuring people other than employees were not exposed to risk.
During the trial it was revealed that regular loading and unloading of elevated platforms on the road in front of the premises created a risk of collision with passing cars.
WorkSafe alleged the company failed to have a written system that required the loading and unloading of elevated working platforms to occur within the premises or, if not possible, a system that allowed safe movements in front of the site.
The company also failed to have necessary precautions for when work was completed on the road, which should have been communicated to drivers who visited the site.
WorkSafe health and safety executive director Julie Nielsen said it was critical that employers outlined work that needed to be done as well as potential risks and how they could be controlled.
“The death is a tragic reminder of the importance of having safe systems of work in place and communicating them with both employees and contractors who enter work sites,” she said.
“Not doing so means workers are exposed to extreme danger and employers can face enormous consequences.”
WorkSafe urged employers who loaded and unloaded mobile elevated working platforms to have appropriately trained operators as well as designated loading areas, exclusion zones and necessary signage.
The company was convicted and fined $85,000.
brittany.goldsmith@news.com.au
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