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Court Summary - at a glance

Date of offence:
1 June 2016
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Final decision date:
 
Fine imposed:
$7,825

Safety lessons learned:
  1. Develop, implement, communicate to forklift operators and truck drivers, and monitor compliance with a safe system of work; and
  2. Enforce compliance with the requirement that truck drivers remain in driver safe zones (whether permanent or temporary) while their trucks were being loaded, until loading was completed

Defendant name:
Storage and Distribution Specialists Limited
 
Industry:
Postal, transport and warehousing
 
Date of offence:
1 June 2016
 
Facts in brief:
The Defendant is a company that carries out a third-party logistics, warehousing and transportation business.

The victim was employed as a truck driver by the Defendant.

On the day of the incident, the Defendant instructed the victim to collect a load of goods from a third party site. The victim parked his truck at the site and stood beside it while loading took place. Whilst the loading was taking place the victim walked towards the rear of his truck to signal the driver waiting in line to come forward.

The victim then started walking back towards the front of his truck. A forklift driver who had been loading the truck failed to see the victim and reversed into him, pinning his leg and foot to the ground.

The victim was freed by other workers and taken to hospital where he remained for six days. He sustained seven fractures to his left foot and required just under three months off work.
 
Offence section:
Sections 34(1) and (2)(b) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
 
Date(s) charged:

Court:
Manukau - District Court
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Final decision date:
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Fine imposed:
$7,825
 
Maximum fine available:
$100,000
 
Reparation:
$2,000 paid prior to sentencing