On 13 May 2025, a tyre fitting company was sentenced in the Mackay Magistrates Court for breaching sections 19 and 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) (‘the Act’), having failed to comply with its primary health and safety duties.

The charge arose from an incident on 16 August 2021.

The defendant operated a business that included the supply and fitting of tyres.  The injured worker had been employed by the defendant for around two weeks.

A crane hire business engaged the defendant to inspect and repair two Franna crane tyres weighing between 150 and 200kg. On the day of the offence, the defendant repaired the two tyres and left them lying flat on the concrete ground within the loading area.

An employee of the crane hire business used a forklift to lift the Franna crane wheels onto the back of his utility. He had not been inducted into any safe work procedure at the workplace. He loaded the first tyre without issue. However, he was having some difficulty with the second tyre.

The injured worker climbed onto the back of the utility to help. He attempted to manually remove the tyre off the forklift tyne, by pulling it towards him. As he pulled the tyre, it came free from the tyne and he lost his balance and fell over the side of the utility tray and onto the concrete floor. The tyre fell on top of him, landing on his upper body and head.

He suffered serious head and facial injuries, including a fractured skull, broken jaw and laceration to his nose. He subsequently underwent surgery to his jaw to insert a plate. The long-term impacts included a loss of smell, loss of feeling in his cheek bone, and facial nerve damage which left him with a distorted smile.

The defendant had no safe work procedure for the operation of mobile plant with reference to the Managing the risks of plant in the workplace. In particular:

• There was no designated traffic management plan for the interaction of vehicles, mobile plant, and persons at the workplace.
• There was no designated exclusion zone for the operation of mobile plant.
• There was no policy or procedure that ensured that only qualified and authorised persons operated the forklift.
• Nor was there provision for the training, instruction and supervision of workers in relation to a safe work procedure.

The learned Magistrate had regard to the objects of the Act and noted that employers had a positive duty to ensure the health and safety of employees at work.

Her Honour remarked on the prevalence of forklift accidents and noted why general deterrence was an important factor in these matters. She stated that general deterrence would always loom large and the penalty ought to send a message to the community that demonstrated this.

Her Honour agreed that the offence was serious as were the injuries suffered by the injured person. She also agreed that the risk was obvious and foreseeable and easily implemented control measures could have been utilised to eliminate or minimise the risk to workers. She said that this was borne out by how quickly the defendant implemented appropriate measures, without inconvenience, following the incident.

Her Honour took into account the defendant’s early plea of guilty, its cooperation with the investigation, lack of prior history, and that it was a good corporate citizen. She noted that at no time did the defendant attempt to minimise its culpability and it had demonstrated remorse and contrition through its plea of guilty and assistance during the investigation. She also noted that the defendant was a small family business that downsized considerably after closing one of its branches.

Her Honour convicted and fined the defendant $60,000 and ordered costs of $1,500 and $101.40 for filing. No conviction was recorded.

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