Fall from truck while loading – $300,000 fine

Case Update

A business supplying the construction industry with timber frames and trusses has been fined $300,000 after a truck driver was seriously injured when he fell off the truck onto concrete, broke his neck and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

The incident

The 65-year-old driver had been working with the company for about six years. His main duties included driving an articulated vehicle, and loading and unloading frames and trusses.

On the day of the incident in July 2017, he was operating an articulated vehicle consisting of a prime mover with flatbed trailer attached to it. He had driven the truck to a workplace where two packs of floor sheets were loaded on the front of the trailer bed of the truck and two timber frames and truss ‘frame packs’ were loaded behind the floor sheets across the full width of the trailer. The load was secured.

He then drove the truck to another worksite (‘Balook Drive’) and parked it in preparation for the trailer to be loaded by forklift with two packs of steel joists and a bundle of timber.

After talking with the forklift operator about where the steel joists were to be positioned, the driver climbed onto the trailer and stood in the space between the loaded frames and the rear end of the trailer to observe the loading operation and to direct the positioning of the joist packs.

The first load of steel joists was successfully loaded onto the trailer using a ‘shunt forward’ method, then a pack of steel joists rolled off the forklift tynes and landed at an angle on top of the first load of joists.

The truck driver was concerned the joists would fall off the truck on the driver’s side and had moved towards that side to alert any pedestrians, when he fell from the truck trailer to the concrete surface at the back of the trailer.

His injuries included a fractured vertebra in his neck, a traumatic brain injury, a winged left scapula and partial tears in his rotator cuff. He was subsequently diagnosed with central cord syndrome and has nerve damage from the spinal cord injury. He has not returned to work.

Following the investigation by SafeWork NSW, the company was charged with breach of s32 of the Work Health and Safety Act – failure to comply with a health and safety duty and exposing a person to a risk of serious injury or death, which carries a maximum penalty of $1.5 million.

In court

The case was heard in the District Court of NSW.

The court heard that a risk assessment had not been carried out for the Balook Drive worksite, where the ground was uneven and sloping and there was limited area to allow for movement of multiple trucks and pedestrian exclusion zones for loading. The established practice for loading trucks at that worksite did not include a pedestrian exclusion zone around the truck or a specified safety zone for the driver.

The company did not clearly prohibit drivers from climbing onto the vehicle tray or trailer while it was being loaded or unloaded, and there was no system in place to ensure that the lashing of loads be conducted from ground level or from a mobile work platform.

Other evidence considered by the court included the legal requirements for preventing falls, available guidance material for the road freight transport industry, and the extensive and costly improvements the company made to its systems of work following the incident.

A mitigating factor was the managing director’s remorse and regret for the incident, but the judge also took into account an aggravating factor, namely that this was not the company’s first WHS offence – in 2011, another worker had fallen from a truck, and died from his injuries.

The company was convicted and fined $300,000 after a reduction of 25% to reflect an early guilty plea, plus costs of $27,500.

The bottom line: Safe systems of work including traffic management plans are vital for preventing accidents during the loading and unloading of trucks.