WorkSafe Victoria | A major construction company will spend more than a million dollars to improve health and safety outcomes after an unloading incident left a young man with life-threatening injuries.
Dromana Magistrates’ Court heard J Hutchinson Builders Pty Ltd, trading as Hutchinson Builders, had entered into an enforceable undertaking while facing a single charge of failing to ensure a workplace under its management and control was safe and without risks to health.
WorkSafe may reinstate the charges if the undertaking is contravened or withdrawn.
In August 2022, a truck driver employed by another company was delivering three large electrical switchboards to a Hutchinson construction site at Rosebud Plaza, assisted by his 21-year-old son.
As the driver’s son stood on the truck’s tray removing straps, a forklift struck the unsecured load, causing him and a switchboard to fall 1.6 metres to the ground.
The court heard the 770-kilogramme switchboard landed on his head and torso, causing life threatening crush injuries including skull, facial, and multiple other fractures, brain damage, and facial nerve palsy. He was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition and has since partially recovered, with ongoing physical and emotional impacts.
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