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25 September 2019

Truck driver sustains major injuries at distribution centre – Spotlight pleads guilty

A Mobicon at a distribution centre operated by Spotlight Pty Ltd ran over a truck driver who had been knocked to the ground by a container straddle carrier. The man sustained several serious injuries.

A Mobicon at a distribution centre operated by Spotlight Pty Ltd ran over a truck driver who had been knocked to the ground by a container straddle carrier. The man sustained several serious injuries.

At the time of the incident, Spotlight had a documented procedure for the safe unloading of shipping containers, but it had not been implemented – specifically, the offender did not ensure that vehicles, such as the truck driver’s, were parked in a safe zone. The loading and unloading zones were also not marked.

After the incident, the company implemented a number of changes to ensure the physical separation of pedestrians and mobile plant, including:

  • marking out hazard zones where mobile plants would operate during loading and unloading
  • designating loading and unloading zones
  • re-marking the pedestrian zone
  • communicating the new traffic plan to parties undertaking activities at the distribution centre.

Spotlight pleaded guilty to contravening section 26 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic), which imposed a duty on Spotlight to ensure that the premises of the distribution centre were as safe as reasonably practicable.

Spotlight was fined $150,000.

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