Prosecution Details

Being an employer at a workplace, failed to ensure that a person other than the operator did not ride on powered mobile plant at the workplace.

The defendant is a transport contractor. Two forklifts were working in a shed when the injured employee was walking towards the exit of a shed one of the forklifts reversed passed him and he decided to catch a lift on it. The employee ran up to the right hand side of the forklift and jumped onto the bottom of two steps mounted between the front and rear wheels as shown in the photograph. Before the accident this was a common practice.

The forklift hit a bump and the employee slipped off the step. As he tried to pull himself back up, his right foot was struck by the forkliftÆs rear wheel and his right leg was dragged under the wheel. The employee received a fracture to his right ankle and pelvis.

His Worship, Ms Robbins SM accepted that this was a first offence for the defendant although Her Worship noted that there had been instances of employees riding on forklifts prior to the accident. Her Worship acknowledged that since the accident, the company had put in place a substantially improved safety system and there had been no further incidents since the accident.

The defendant pleaded guilty.