Prosecution Details

Being an employer, failed so far as was practicable to provide and maintain a working environment in which its employees were not exposed to hazards and in particular failed to provide and maintain a system of work such that, so far as was practicable, its employees were not exposed to hazards.

The injured person was, with assistance from another employee, moving a metal shelving rack on a pallet jack. The shelving toppled backwards off the pallet jack and struck the injured person causing a fractured lower left leg, ankle and T1 vertebra.

The shelving being moved on the pallet jack required extra elevation and to achieve this pie crates on the forks of the pallet jack. When the pallet jack was elevated the shelving was then also raised from the ground. When the shelving was raised, it appears that one of the legs still touched the ground on one side, that is, the shelving had an inclination to one side. To move the shelving the employee kept the shelving level to ensure that it did not contact the ground. There was metal tubing running underneath the bottom shelf of the shelving and the tube was resting on the pie crate. The employee was in the process of adjusting the sideways inclination of the shelving when it toppled back onto her.

The defendant pleaded guilty. His Worship G Cicchini SM imposed a penalty under section 19(6).

convicted