The truck driver also suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was crushed by 12m-long steel beams.
A Melbourne truck driver suffered a traumatic brain injury and later lost both his legs in a “horrific” workplace accident at a warehouse, storage and transport company.
Arrow Worldwide Pty Ltd was last week fined $140,000 after the man, who was not an employee, was crushed by steel beams in May 2021.
The driver, who was picking up a load at the company’s West Melbourne warehouse, was standing in the “fall shadow” when a pack of 12m-long steel beams fell from a flat-top semi-trailer after being loaded by a forklift.
The beams struck the truck driver in the head, causing a traumatic brain injury, and crushed both his legs which later had to be amputated.
A WorkSafe investigation found Arrow Worldwide should have provided a system that separated pedestrians from moving machinery, required transport drivers to remain in a marked safety zone and required them to be inducted into the workplace before work began.
It also found it was reasonable for the company to have provided instructions for transport drivers on the system of work.
Arrow Worldwide pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that people other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks.
WorkSafe executive director of health and safety Narelle Beer said employers had a duty to ensure their actions did not put the health and safety of others in their workplace at risk.
“We know that pedestrians and mobile plant don’t mix and safety or exclusion zones along with workplace inductions for anyone visiting the site are a crucial part of ensuring safety during loading and unloading work,” Beer said.
“Tragically, in this case a worker has suffered, horrific, life-changing injuries that could and should have been prevented.”
Source: 7News
