ADELAIDE-based United Case Holdings has been fined a total of $31,025 after a teenage worker fell from atop two packing crates and broke his wrist.
United Case Holdings pleaded guilty to three breaches of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986 in the SA Industrial Relations Court.
The company had failed to ensure the safety of employees through a lack of safe operating procedures and inadequate training, instruction and supervision, allowed an unqualified person to operate a forklift, and failed to notify SafeWork SA of a notifiable dangerous occurrence at its workplace.
In September 2004, the 17-year-old male worker was atop two packing crates being lowered by forklift onto the tray of a truck. He fell about three metres from the top of the crates to the ground, suffering a broken wrist. He also received cuts and abrasions to his chin and lips as he struck a wooden crate, which also fell.
The company did not notify SafeWork SA of the incident, but the workplace safety authority found out three months later, and investigated.
Inspectors found the crates were too big for the forklift tines, causing the load to be unstable, and the forklift was operating over unsealed and uneven ground. An unqualified 16-year-old worker was operating the forklift on the day of the incident.
The injured worker had engaged in a prohibited practice by riding on top of an elevated load, and it was common practice for an employee to walk alongside the forklift to manually steady the load.
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