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A towing company has been convicted and fined $275,000 on the August 4, 2017 over an incident in which an employee loading a boom crane onto a truck parked on a suburban road was struck and seriously injured by a van, resulting in the employee dying several days later from his injury.
WorkSafe Victoria said the JMAL Group, of Sunshine North, pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to provide a safe system of work, and one charge of failing to ensure that persons other than employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety arising from the conduct of the employer’s undertaking. The company was also ordered to pay costs of $12,000.
The court heard that on August 5, 2015 the employee had arrived at an equipment hire company in Derbyshire St, Williamstown to collect a 20m long boom crane to transport to Tullamarine. He parked his prime mover in Derbyshire St and began the process of loading the crane onto the trailer.
Just before 5am, the employee was in the cage of the crane, in the middle of the road, when it was struck by a van driving along the street. The van driver was not injured, but the employee was seriously injured in the incident and died several days later.
According to reports it was dark and raining at the time of the incident, and there were no safety lights, traffic cones or warning measures in place to warn motorists of the crane being loaded onto the trailer. Illuminated lights at the rear of the trailer were obscured by its loading ramps and the street was a no standing zone.
The court heard that JMAL operated a number of trucks, which were used to transport mobile plant and equipment to different locations, and had exposed employees and road users to the risk of serious injury by failing to have a traffic management plans in place.
The court also heard that JMAL failed to train its drivers to understand the risks associated with loading and unloading machinery on public roads.
WorkSafe’s executive director of Health and Safety, Marnie Williams, said the incident was a tragic reminder that failing to have safe systems of work in place put the lives of workers and the public in danger.
“The risks around loading and transporting machinery are well-known, and there is no excuse for businesses that specialise in this type of work not having systems in place to manage these risks,” Williams said.
“In this case, a failure to have a simple traffic management plan in place has cost a family a loved one and put another road user in serious danger.”
Williams said workers performing tasks on or near public roads needed to be taught the risks, and be provided with a traffic management plan, which outlined the safety requirements of the job.
“This can be as simple as having signage and warning devices in place to indicate to other road users that loading or unloading is taking place, otherwise, the consequences can be horrendous.”