Prosecution Details

Being an employee failed to take reasonable care to ensure his own health and safety at work by being elevated on the tynes of a forklift truck.

The defendant was an employee of a transport freight company in Kewdale.

The defendant was instructed by his employer to deliver a tarpauline to a truck driver who was at another premises. When the defendant arrived he decided to put the tarpaulin on the truck himself. He sought the assistance of another person who was at the time operating a forklift at a neighbouring business.

The forklift driver agreed to raise the tarpaulin up on the tynes of his forklift. The defendant then climbed onto the tynes and was raised above the ground to a height of approximately 4.6 metres. A WorkSafe inspector observed the person on the raised tynes and ordered him to be immediately lowered to the ground.

The defendant pleaded guilty.