An employee of a NSW waste transfer station was fatally injured after being hit and reversed over by a company front end loader. Not only did this result in the loss of a valued employee, but also saw the company receive a hefty fine of $525,000 after the courts determined Health and Safety negligence.
On the day of this particular case, the driver of the vehicle had conducted a pre-start vehicle check but had failed to notice that the rear-view camera was un-operational. Meanwhile, a ‘Picker’ employee moved around the work site shifting items in preparation for loader removal, and found himself in the blind spot of the faulty loader which resulted in in the mentioned incident.
Upon review of this case the court found the employer negligent as they failed to consider the risk to pedestrians within the locality of machinery and vehicles that frequent the workplace.
The workplace should have considered:
- Pedestrian exclusion zones, specific to heavy vehicles and machinery;
- Clearly marked pedestrian walk ways;
- Communicative efforts/means between pedestrians and vehicle drivers;
- A site-specific Traffic Management Plan for safe movement around the worksite;
- Documented pre-vehicle inspections for heavy machinery and vehicles; and
- Preventative efforts to reduce or avoid manual labour activities and heavy vehicle and machinery access to areas simultaneously.
Unfortunately, this incident could have been prevented with the correct workplace systems in place. Traffic Management plans are usually implemented within workplaces that have a high volume of vehicle flow or regular use of powered mobile plants, does this sound like your workplace? Do you have a Traffic Management Plan in place?
These plans aim to reduce the risk to pedestrians and vehicles through a consistent and visual set of guidelines and instruction to manage flow, movement and frequency of traffic through a worksite and within everyday employee operation. Assurance HR Management have specialists within the Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) field that can assist you in reviewing and developing a Traffic Management Plan specific to your workplace needs. Contact us today on 1800 577 515 for a free consultation with one of our team!
