A FARM tragedy played out its final scene in Mildura Magistrates’ Court this week, when labour hire business AH Vision Pty Ltd was sentenced ex parte after being found guilty of two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The company was fined $400,000 for failing to provide necessary information, instruction and training; and $15,000 for failing, without reasonable excuse, to provide WorkSafe with required information and documents and ordered to also pay $16,045 in costs.
The court heard the company was engaged to provide labour to a Woorinen South fruit grower.
In January 2022, the 70-year-old Afghan national was on just his second shift at the workplace when he fell from a trailer as it was being towed by a tractor on public roads between farm sites.
The man sustained serious head injuries, including a fractured skull, and died later that night in hospital.
The court heard workers were required to travel to different locations at the workplace to pick fruit and place it in bins sitting on two trailers, which were then towed in tandem by the tractor.
Both trailers featured platforms at the front and sides to allow fruit pickers to empty their picking bags into double-stacked fruit bins – however they were not designed to carry passengers.
The court heard AH Vision’s labour hire service provider licence was cancelled in July 2022 and the company failed to comply with a notice to produce information and documents for WorkSafe’s subsequent investigation.
The court heard it was necessary for AH Vision to provide to employees with information, instruction and training about the dangers of riding on the trailers; as well as instructions not to ride on the trailers and on how to travel to and from locations around the workplace; and training on safe operating procedures for using the trailers.
WorkSafe executive director health and safety Sam Jenkin said labour hire companies had a duty to the health and safety of workers they employed – including providing instructions and training on how to work safely.
“Labour hire companies can’t just send workers off to a worksite and hope for the best, leaving them to work in unfamiliar environments without providing appropriate safety training and information,” Mr Jenkin said.
“Riding around on machinery or equipment that isn’t designed to carry people is inherently dangerous – tragically, in this case, the failure to provide adequate training has cost a worker’s life.”
Cutri Fruit Pty Ltd, which operated the farm where the incident occurred, was convicted and fined $750,000 in the Mildura County Court in December last year, after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure persons other than employees weren’t exposed to health and safety risks.
