Midfield Meat International was fined

A Warrnambool meat processor has been convicted and fined AUD90,000 after a worker was hit by a forklift in 2019.

Midfield Meat International pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates' Court for failing to ensure persons other than employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

The company was also ordered to pay costs of AUD2,000.

The court heard that on 20 March 2019, a labour hire worker was hit by a reversing forklift as he was stacking cardboard sheets against a wall.

The worker's legs were crushed between the forklift and a steel barrier. He was taken to hospital and suffered nerve damage to his lower legs.

A WorkSafe investigation found that although there was a traffic management plan in place, pedestrian workers regularly worked within the forklift operating zone despite the clear risk of collision.

WorkSafe executive director of health and safety Julie Nielsen says there was no excuse for failing to separate workers and mobile plant.

"This incident should serve as a wake-up call to this company and to others that it is simply unacceptable for pedestrians and mobile plant to mix," she says.

"It is vital that employers have appropriate traffic management plans in place and enforce them, including, if necessary, physical barriers such as bollards and chains to keep mobile plant and pedestrians at a safe distance."