A Launceston excavator driver has been fined $55,000 for unsafe work practices that left a worker with serious injuries at a northern Tasmanian worksite in November 2020.
Mark Grima began operating his excavator while a worker was in the trench, after failing to check if the excavator was in the right mode before starting it and neglecting to set up a safe zone to keep people away.
The Launceston Magistrates Court heard how the worker was pinned against the trench wall by the excavator bucket, sustaining severe crush injuries to his pelvis.
The sentencing Magistrate said Grima’s actions were a far cry from safe work practices, saying the risk of crush injuries in this situation was ‘entirely foreseeable’.
The Magistrate noted that the incident could have been prevented if Grima had followed to safety protocols.
‘This incident shows how important it is to operate mobile plant and equipment safely around workers,” Work Health and Safety Regulator Robyn Pearce said.
“WorkSafe Tasmania Inspectors have seen too many incidents lately involving mobile plant operators not taking care when operating their equipment around workers and not maintaining safe exclusion zones.”
