On 24 April 2025, the operator of a poultry farm was sentenced in the Warwick Magistrates Court for breaching sections 19(1) and 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (‘the Act’), having failed to comply with its primary health and safety duty.

On 9 December 2022, a worker was a passenger in a farm vehicle when the driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid a large lizard on the gravel road, and veered into bushland. The driver and the worker were seasonal workers from Samoa who had limited English. The driver did not hold a driver’s license, was not confident driving a manual vehicle, and had not been approved for driving at the workplace by their seasonal worker labour hire company. Neither the worker nor the driver were wearing a seatbelt.

As a result of the vehicle veering into bushland, the worker was ejected from the vehicle and became trapped underneath it, suffering fatal injuries.

While the defendant company had some policies in place to address the risk posed by inexperienced drivers and not wearing seatbelts, it failed to adequately implement them and ensure that its seasonal workers understood and applied them.

In sentencing, Acting Magistrate Kirkman-Scroope noted that the defendant had policies in place, but they were not adequately implemented in order to discharge their duty. It was accepted that the defendant company did make genuine attempts.

Her Honour had regard to the need for general deterrence, the positive obligation on employers, the objects of the Work Health and Safety Act, the seasonal workers had limited English, the driver was inexperienced and not confident driving manual vehicles, and while there was a risk assessment and policy, there was no real competency measure in place.  The offending was considered serious as the materialisation of the risk resulted in a death, the risk was obvious, and further control measures should have been in place. Her Honour noted the wide variance in estimates of the speed the driver was driving, and placed minimal weight on the fact that they were travelling over the 40 km/h speed limit.

An investigation by Work Health and Safety Queensland revealed that another rollover incident had occurred at the farm two years earlier. That incident involved a farm vehicle driven by an inexperienced 16-year-old driver who held his learner’s driving permit and was relevant to the foreseeability of the risk. Her Honour accepted that positive steps were taken immediately following that prior rollover, including risk assessments, the motor vehicle operation policy, reduction in speed limits and toolbox talks.

In terms of mitigation, her Honour had regard to the defendant having no prior offences, that there was great utility in the early plea of guilty, the defendant had taken the matters seriously, had extensive insight into the failings, was remorseful, the exceptional level of support to local organisations and that they are a good corporate citizen. Her Honour considered it relevant that the defendant did have in place the Motor Vehicle Operation Policy, that the driver and the worker undertook an induction, there was a Traffic Management Plan, and the defendant had only recently had the road graded.  There had not been a complete disregard for policies and there had been some oversight of the workers. Post-incident measures had been put in place and pastoral care and employee assistance program were offered following the incident.

OWHSP contact: enquiries@owhsp.qld.gov.au