Issue Date:  -  Friday, 9 September 2005

Coca Cola Company fined $40,000 for unsafe workplace

Coca-Cola Amatil (Aust) Pty Ltd has been fined $40,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace for its employees.

The company was convicted in the Magistrate’s Court of WA Perth last week of failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace for a non-employee, and by that failure, causing serious harm to a person.

In April 2004, an employee of a transport company was delivering pallets for drink bottles to Coca-Cola Amatil’s (CCA) premises in Kewdale.

As he began to remove the straps from the pallets, a CCA employee approached on a twin-tine forklift, intending to unload the pallets from the truck.

After a short conversation with the truck driver, the CCA employee started to unload the pallets before the driver had finished removing the straps.

The forklift operator knocked a pallet off the truck, and it struck the driver on the head and neck, causing a laceration to his scalp and fracturing a vertebra in his neck.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today that the case was a reminder of the importance of implementing and enforcing safe systems of work.

“The employer in this case had not provided safe systems of work or adequate training for the forklift operator,” Ms Lyhne said.

“There were no documented procedures for the unloading of pallets from trucks, employees had not been trained to safely unload pallets, and the forklift operator involved had not been trained in the use of a twin-tine forklift for unloading.

“If safe systems of work had been in place before the incident occurred, this worker would not have had to suffer the pain and long-term consequences of his injury.

“This case also serves to illustrate that every employer – whether in a small business with five employees or a huge global enterprise such as Coca-Cola – has a responsibility to provide and maintain a safe workplace for everyone in that workplace.

“This workplace did not have adequate training or safe work procedures in place, and has suffered the consequences of being found guilty in a court of law for breaching WA’s occupational safety and health laws.

“I once again strongly urge all employers – big or small - to take a look around their workplaces, identify any hazard that could cause an injury, illness or even death, then take action to reduce or eliminate those risks.”

Further information on safe work practices and training can be obtained by telephoning WorkSafe on 9327 8777 or on the website at www.safetyline.wa.gov.au.