$295,000 safety undertaking after forklift injury at Deer Park
07 Oct 2025•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
National Masonry Pty Ltd has entered into an enforceable undertaking worth an estimated $295,000 after a worker suffered a serious hand injury when a forklift tipped over at its Deer Park workplace.
On Thursday 25 September, Sunshine Magistrates’ Court heard the company had entered into the undertaking while facing four charges of failing to ensure a workplace under its control was safe and without risks to health. WorkSafe may reinstate the charges if the undertaking is breached or withdrawn.
The incident occurred in August 2023 at the company’s factory and storage yard. A worker was loading products onto a truck with a forklift when the truck unexpectedly moved forward, catching the forklift’s tynes and tipping it onto its side.
The forklift’s frame rails trapped the worker’s left hand, which was partially amputated when it struck the ground. Re-attachment surgery has restored some movement, but the worker is not expected to recover fully.
Investigators found that several near-misses had occurred before the incident, including unidentified pedestrians almost coming into contact with vehicles moving through the yard.
WorkSafe alleged National Masonry had failed to reduce the risks of powered mobile plant overturning or colliding with other mobile plant and pedestrians.
The alleged failures included not establishing exclusion zones around forklifts loading delivery trucks, not training forklift operators and truck drivers to use those zones, and not ensuring pedestrians used the dedicated walkways.
WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said employers were responsible for making sure staff had adequate training to understand the risks associated with mobile plant, including forklifts and delivery vehicles. “In 2024-25, forklifts were a factor in almost 160 workplace injuries, and yet there are many cost effective safety systems that can be implemented to reduce or eliminate the risk of these incidents,” Mr Jenkin said.
Mr Jenkin said the case demonstrated the difference safe systems and adequate training could make. He expressed confidence that improvements arising from the incident would help prevent further harm at the workplace and elsewhere in the industry.
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