Prosecution Details

Being an employer, failed so far as was practicable, to provide and maintain a working environment in which its employees were not exposed to a hazard, contrary to sections 19(1) and 19A(3) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 (WA).

The Offender operates a trucking company. In December 2020 it owned and operated two prime movers. One prime mover was driven by a Director of the offender and the other, a Western Star model, was driven by the single employee of the offender.

The offender, and other self-employed truck drivers, were contracted by another company to deliver and collect trailers used to store offal and other animal biproduct. Empty trailers were delivered to the abattoirs. Filled trailers were collected from the abattoirs and transported to a processing site in Hazlemere. The trailers had a hydraulic system to raise and lower the trailer height so that they could couple with the prime movers, that is the prime mover could attach to the trailer. The trailers could not be manually adjusted and could only be adjusted once hydraulically connected to the prime mover. The height of the trailer varied depending on what make of prime mover delivered it.

One of the abattoirs attended by the offender was located in Cowaramup and had a trailer pit located below ground level. In order to couple the driver needed to reverse the prime mover down a declining ramp and park on a decline. If coupled correctly the jaws of the turntable attached to the prime mover would lock around a kingpin on the underside of the trailer. A correct coupling could be verified by an audible sound, a jerking motion, feeling resistance when a tug test was completed and by visual inspection from outside of the prime mover.

A correct coupling would only occur if the prime mover and trailer were at the right height. The Western Star make of prime mover was typically lower than other prime movers.  It was not uncommon for the turntable of the Western Star prime mover to be too low to lock around the king pin of the trailer. The trailer had to be lowered which was done by the driver connecting the hydraulic lines. This necessitated the driver getting onto the back of the prime mover and placing them self between prime mover and the trailer.

On 17 December 2020 the victim, the single employee of the offender, drove the Western Star prime mover to the abattoir in Cowaramup to deliver an empty trailer and collect a filled trailer. After delivering the empty trailer the victim reversed the Western Star down the declining ramp. This process was captured by CCTV footage. The CCTV shows the rear of the Western Star go underneath the trailer, followed by an apparent jerking movement of the cabin. The driver’s door is opened and about 8 seconds later the victim exits the cabin and steps down onto the wall of the trailer pit before stepping on to the rear of the Western Star prime mover. Approximately 3 seconds after stepping on to the rear of the Western Star prime mover it starts moving backwards down the declining ramp. The victim was crushed between the prime mover and trailer and sustained fatal injuries.

The park brake was not applied when the victim exited the cabin of the Western Star prime mover.   The Western Star prime mover was mechanically sound, including the park brake. At the time of the incident the Western Star prime mover was not fitted with a park brake alarm. A park brake alarm is a device that operates to warn a driver if the driver’s door is opened when the park brake is not engaged. A park brake alarm can be retrofitted to a prime mover at a cost of approximately $600, inclusive of labour. The process could be completed within a few hours.

In this matter the nature of the Cowaramup site, and the declining ramp, was known by the offender. It was also known that the trailer height adjustment was frequently required to correctly couple, and that the method of adjustment required the victim to place himself between the Western star prime mover and the trailer when on the decline. The park brake was the only mechanism preventing uncontrolled backwards movement of the prime mover. In this context, a park brake alarm would have served to warn the victim that the park brake was not engaged before exiting the cabin of the prime mover. A park brake alarm was a practicable measure that would have mitigated against carelessness, haste, inattention, inadvertence or conscious choice by the victim not to apply the hand brake.

Found Guilty after 9 day trial. Sentenced on 15 May 2025. Magistrates issued a fine of $135,000 and agreed costs of $30,000.