Victorian fruit grower fined $750,000 after worker’s death

A fruit grower in the state’s northwest has been convicted and fined after a 70-year-old picker died following a fall from a moving trailer.

Cutri Fruit, near Swan Hill, was convicted and fined $750,000 after a 70-year-old worker died almost three years ago. Picture: File (Zoe Phillips).

A Victorian fruit grower has been convicted and fined $750,000 after one of its workers died on his second shift with the company almost three years ago.

Cutri Fruit Pty Ltd, based at Woorinen South near Swan Hill, was sentenced in the Mildura County Court on Friday after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure persons other than employees weren’t exposed to health and safety risks.

In January 2022, a 70-year-old labour hire worker died after he and another worker fell from a trailer as it was being towed by a tractor on public roads between farm sites.

The man sustained serious head injuries, including a fractured skull, and died later that night in hospital. The other worker who fell from the trailer was uninjured.

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.

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

WorkSafe Victoria said their investigation found four workers were riding on platforms on the two trailers at the time of the incident, despite the company’s orchard manager and director warning against the practice in a message to staff a week earlier.

“Riding around on any type of machinery or equipment that isn’t designed to carry people is incredibly dangerous and should never be part of anyone’s work,” WorkSafe executive director health and safety Sam Jenkin said.

“It’s frustrating and heartbreaking that a man has lost his life in a workplace incident that could easily have been avoided if safe work practices had been implemented and properly communicated.”

Cutri Fruit was founded in 1983 and is owned by the Cutri family, with former lawyer and third generation farmer Gaethan Cutri the CEO and managing director of Cutri Fruit.

AH Vision Pty Ltd, which employed the deceased worker, is also facing charges in relation to the incident.