Worker set for trial over forklift death
A man will face the County Court over a fatal forklift accident in Lara after a magistrate committed the matter to trial.
Michael Gorman, 52, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court for a committal hearing accused of two charges – reckless endangerment of a person at a workplace and failing to take reasonable care – stemming from the accident on October 16, 2021.
Glenn Humm, 49, was killed in the incident at Air Radiators in Lara.
The court heard Mr Gorman and Mr Humm were tasked with moving a stillage containing steel with a combined weight of more than 1.3 tonnes, to give a crane access to part of the workshop.
Mr Humm was hit and killed by the load.
Mr Humm’s family was present in court during the hearing.
Mr Gorman’s lawyer Amanda Dickens quizzed Air Radiators employees about the company’s hierarchy and whether enough risk assess
ment had taken place before the accident.
Ms Dickens submitted that Mr Gorman’s part in the incident did not meet the “committal threshold” for recklessness, because recklessness required foresight on the part of the accused.
Ms Dickens told the court Mr Gorman did not see Mr Dunn enter the 3m exclusion zone around the forklift and that moving the stillage was an unusual task that had not been adequately assessed for risks.
“If there had been an agreed
upon system of doing this, and Mr Gorman had ignored that, I would not be making this submission. He did not have that,” Ms Dickens said.
The prosecution told the court it was a “factual matter” for a jury to decide, that Mr Gorman was “aware of specific hazards relevant to these charges” and that recklessness “could be inferred”.
“He’s aware that he’s engaging in an undertaking that is inherently high risk, he’s operating a forklift and in order to do so, one needs a high-risk work licence,” the prosecutor said. The court also heard testimony from employees regarding safety concerns around the forklift and an angled slope and “drain” outside one of the facility’s entrances.
One worker testified he regularly raised safety concerns, including about the forklift, which took “20 minutes” to start up and would “lurch forward” when it was put into drive.
A supervisor testified he had discussed both the forklift and the drain.
The man said the gutter or drain had been traversed regularly “for 20 years without incident” and “anyone who has a forklift licence knows that rule (not to change direction on a slope)”.
He said the forklift itself had been described to him as “not unsafe” but “an inconvenience”, stating he had been told it was “less than ideal, but not a safety issue”.
Magistrate Urfa Masood committed the matter for trial.
A directions hearing in the County Court has been scheduled for May 14.