Hardware company Tait Timber and Hardware has pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace after a worker was hurt when a forklift was used inappropriately.

The company was convicted and fined $80,000 at the Frankston Magistrates Court last week, and costs of $2,787 were also ordered against the company.

The incident occurred when a forklift was being used to pull a fence post out of the ground at the company's Somerville outlet in March 2009.

WorkSafe Victoria told the court two workers attached a chain to a fence post and the forklift, but the chain broke as the machine moved forward, causing it to whip back and hit one man and knock him two to three metres.

He suffered multiple rib fractures, a collapsed lung and bruising to the heart, chest and torso. He was in hospital for two weeks and did not return to work for about three months.

WorkSafe's investigation found:
* other types of equipment such as that used in earthmoving would have been more suitable to dig out or remove the post at a cost of around $400;
* it was neither an industry standard, nor an acceptable system of work to use a forklift to attempt to tow, pull or drag in the circumstances of that day; and
* the entry where the work was being done should have been closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Magistrate Betts said the OHS breach was serious and that the injury severely affected the injured man and his family.

WorkSafe's general manager for health and safety, Lisa Sturzenegger, says the incident showed the serious impact of not properly planning work and identifying risks in any workplace.

"Employers have a legal obligation to ensure the workplace is as safe as reasonably practicable and to ensure the work is done in a safe way.

"As this case shows, not doing that can lead to serious personal and commercial costs."

WorkSafe produces a wide range of publications on safe forklift use which can be found online at www.worksafe.vic.gov.au.