National Masonry Pty Ltd is a manufacturer and supplier of concrete product. The company was charged with four breaches of the OHS Act following a serious workplace incident in August 2023 where a forklift operator at their Ravenhall facility suffered a partial amputation of their hand.
Whilst the forklift operator was loading a truck in the National Masonry yard the truck was moved, causing the tynes of the forklift to become wedged and tipping the forklift over. The forklift operator’s hand was trapped under the forklift frame rail and was partially amputated by the impact.
Surgeons were able to re-attach the operator’s hand, but it is not functional, and a full recovery is not expected.
WorkSafe alleged that National Masonry had failed to provide a safe workplace and to provide information, instruction, training or supervision to enable employee to perform their jobs safely. They had also failed to ensure that the workplace had their traffic management plan was functioning to prevent powered mobile plant from overturning or from colliding with pedestrians or other powered mobile plant.
National Masonry could have ensured that their workplace was safe and without risks to health by creating dedicated walkways and exclusion zones around forklifts engaged in the loading of trucks, and by instructing forklift operators to create those exclusion zones and to discuss the requirements under the traffic management plan with the truck drivers.
National Masonry proposed an Enforceable Undertaking that would require them to –
- engage an Engineering Designer to research & develop two prototype safety systems that could be retrofitted to forklifts to assist with reduction and prevention of incidents involving forklifts:
- an early warning detection system for forklift mast collision
- a forklift payload balance monitoring system designed to ensure that the powered item of plant is operating within its safe working capacity
- facilitate the testing of the prototypes by granting the Engineering Designer access to its fleet of forklift, allowing testing in a variety of scenarios and operating conditions and providing feedback
- engage a video production company to produce educational material explaining the gaps identified in existing forklifts safety systems, the safety learnings from the project and testing phases, as well as the benefits brought about by the prototypes and the fact that they are available:
- consult with WorkSafe on the content and script of the material
- provide copy of the material to WorkSafe with permission to freely disseminate it
- provide copy of the material to the Australian Forklift & Industrial Truck Association, Think Brick Australia and Concrete Masonry Association of Australia, for dissemination amongst their members
- make a $15,000 donation to the Australian Institute of Health & Safety’s ‘Body of Knowledge’ program
The prosecution was discontinued following WorkSafe’s approval of an Enforceable Undertaking (‘EU’) proposal advanced by National Masonry.
Forklifts are a serious hazard: each year approximately 400 people are injured by forklifts at Victorian workplaces - and since 1985, more than 55 Victorian workers have lost their lives in incidents involving forklifts. All workplace safety incidents are avoidable. Employers have access to free support and guidance through WorkSafe’s Forklift safety guide | WorkSafe Victoria to enable them to ensure that their workplaces are safe and healthy.
You can learn more about forklift safety at our Forklift Safety - OHS Reps page.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria