Far Northern Hardware Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 23 November 2009 a 53 year old male worker sustained injuries when a load fell from a forklift fracturing his ankle.

Far Northern Hardware Pty Ltd operated a business supplying building materials and tools to customers and employed the worker as a casual retail hand.

The court found the defendant held obligations under s.28 of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 being an employer.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• the system of work adopted to remove MDF sheeting from shelving exposed the worker to the risk of injury
• bundles of sheeting had not been lowered all the way to the floor before unloading and the method used to remove single sheets increased the likelihood of other sheets being dislodged from the bundle
• the MDF was not stored on a pallet and became visibly unstable when the first sheet was removed from the bundle
• the removal of a second sheet of MDF resulted in the bundle collapsing on the injured worker's leg, causing a fracture to his ankle.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Cairns Industrial Magistrates Court on 6 October 2010 to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to meet its workplace health and safety obligations. Industrial Magistrate Ms Jane Bentley delivered her decision on 14 October 2010. She fined the defendant $20 000 and ordered costs totalling $4820.60.

In reaching a decision the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to identify that a misbalanced load may cause injury. In deciding penalty Industrial Magistrate Bentley took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any other workplace health and safety breach, entered an early plea of guilty and implemented further safety and training measures after the event.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland appealed the fine amount. The matter went to appeal in the Industrial Court of Queensland on 15 March 2011. President Hall set aside the industrial magistrate's fine of $20 000 on the basis that it was a modest estimate in comparison to the range identified by the appellant in the body of related case law, and imposed a fine of $35 000.

Considerations for prevention:

(Commentary under this heading is not part of the Court's decision.)

When working in the retail and wholesale industry where there is exposure to risks from unsecured loads falling from forklifts, obligation holders should apply a risk management approach to ensure the selection of suitable control measures.

Risk management involves:

• identifying the hazards
• evaluating the consequences and likelihood of harm that may result from the hazard
• deciding on and implementing control measures to prevent or minimise the level of the risk from the hazard
• monitoring the effectiveness of the control measures to ensure they remain working correctly.

When deciding on and implementing control measures associated with the risk of loads falling from forklifts, obligation holders should consider how best to lift and remove items from the forklift to ensure the load remains secure.

Visit the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland website for more information on:

• Forklift trucks
• Retail and wholesale industry
• Health and Safety information for retail and wholesale
• The nature of loads
• Plant Code of Practice 2005
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.