WorkSafe has charged a company director for driving a ute in Victoria’s high country with a teenage apprentice in a toolbox.
The 31-year-old man faces a single charge under section 26(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to ensure that a workplace under their management or control was safe and without risks to health.
In February 2022, the 19-year-old apprentice was told to lie down inside the toolbox, which was mounted on the back of the ute, before the vehicle was driven from Tolmie to Mansfield.
WorkSafe alleges the director failed to reduce the risk of injury or death by not driving the work vehicle, or not allowing the vehicle to be driven, when a person was inside the toolbox.
The matter is listed for a mention hearing at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on 19 June 2024.
Source: WorkSafe Vic
