Labour hire company fined $415,000 after farm worker’s death

A labour hire company has been convicted and fined after a 70-year-old fruit picker died during his second shift with the company.

A labour hire company has been convicted and fined a total of $415,000 after a fruit picker died following a fall from a moving trailer during his second shift with the company. Picture: File

A labour hire company has been convicted and fined $415,000 in total after a fruit picker died following a fall from a moving trailer in Victoria’s Sunraysia region.

AH Vision Pty Ltd was sentenced ex parte in the Mildura Magistrates’ Court on Monday after being found guilty of two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The company was fined $400,000 for failing to provide necessary information, instruction and training; and $15,000 for failing, without reasonable excuse, to provide WorkSafe with required information and documents.

AH Vision was also ordered to pay $16,045 in costs.

The court heard the company was engaged to provide labour to Woorinen South fruit grower, Cutri Fruit Pty Ltd.

In January 2022, the 70-year-old worker was performing just his second shift at the workplace when he fell from a trailer as it was being towed by a tractor on public roads between farms.

The man sustained serious head injuries, including a fractured skull, and died later that night in hospital.

The court heard workers were required to travel to different locations at the workplace to pick fruit and place it in bins sitting on two trailers, which were then towed in tandem by the tractor.

Both trailers featured platforms at the front and sides to allow fruit pickers to empty their picking bags into double-stacked fruit bins – however they were not designed to carry passengers.

The court also heard AH Vision’s labour hire service provider licence was cancelled in July 2022 and the company failed to comply with a notice to produce information and documents for WorkSafe’s subsequent investigation.

Cutri Fruit Pty Ltd, which operated the farm where the incident occurred, was convicted and fined $750,000 in the Mildura County Court in December last year, after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure persons other than employees weren’t exposed to health and safety risks.