Northern Tasmanian excavator driver given huge fine after co-worker’s pelvis crushed in trench

An excavator driver has been dealt a huge fine for working unsafely after his colleague was left with serious crush injuries to the pelvis.

A worker was injured in northern Tasmania after they were pinned against the side of a trench by an excavator bucket.

An excavator driver has been fined $55,000 for working unsafely after a colleague was left with serious crush injuries to his pelvis.

Mark Grima began operating his excavator while another worker was present in a trench at a northern Tasmanian business during November 2020 – and was pinned against the side of the trench by the excavator bucket.

According to a statement from WorkSafe Tasmania, Grima did not ensure the excavator was in the correct operating mode before starting the machine, and did not ensure there was an exclusion zone with no-one in it before operating it.

Last Wednesday, Grima was convicted and fined in the Launceston Magistrates Court of one count of failing to comply with a health and safety duty.

WorkSafe Tasmania noted the sentencing magistrate said the incident was a “significant departure from safe practice”, and that safety at work sites was important as they were “especially fraught with danger if people and machinery are working in the same area”.

The watchdog noted the magistrate said a risk of a crush injury had been foreseeable, and that complying with work safety rules would have eliminated the risk.

“This incident shows how important it is to operate mobile plant and equipment safely around workers,” Work Health and Safety Regulator Robyn Pearce said after the sentencing.

“WorkSafe Tasmania Inspectors have seen too many incidents lately involving mobile plant

operators not taking care when operating their equipment around workers, and not

maintaining safe exclusion zones.”

She said machinery operators must ensure other workers were not nearby when the machinery was being operated.

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