Prosecutions

WorkSafe Victoria has not added further prosecution results on its website since last week. 

To check for more Victorian prosecutions before the next edition, go to WorkSafe Victoria's Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings webpage. 

NSW: $375,000 after fatality

South Coast Under Road Borers was last week fined $375,000 after a young worker was fatally crushed by a truck in October 2017.

The Shoalhaven company pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 in the District Court of NSW after an investigation by SafeWork NSW found the company did not have safe systems of work in place for the servicing of its heavy vehicles at its premises.

Safework NSW’s Executive Director, Investigations & Enforcement, Valerie Griswold, said workplace safety laws are enforced to prevent these tragic losses of life and when businesses fail to comply with the laws, SafeWork NSW will take enforcement action.

“This situation truly presents the worst-case scenario in a workplace,” Ms Griswold said. “This young man had only been on the job for three weeks at the time of the incident and not only was he unsupervised, but he did not have any prior relevant experience in working on heavy vehicles."

The incident occurred on 27 October 2017 when the worker was working underneath a truck that had not been properly stabilised on soft, sloping ground. The full judgement is available on the NSW caselaw website

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