Two companies have been fined recently for safety breaches involving forklifts.

Two separate companies have been fined recently for safety incidents involving forklifts.

In February, logistics company Border Express was fined AUD$15,000 in the Magistrates Court for an incident which occurred at its Laverton North depot two years ago. In the incident, a sub-contracted employee was struck by a forklift while he was checking palletised goods on the warehouse floor. This led to serious neck injuries.

Last month, the director of seafood distributor Regal Seafoods was fined AUD3,000 over the unsafe use of a forklift in a high-risk environment in an incident which occurred in January 2008. A WorkSafe inspector observed a worker painting from a fully extended forklift operated by the director, which was fixed with a standard timber pallet on the tynes, estimated to be about 4.5m high.

The inspector issued a prohibition notice, prohibiting any painting of the corporate defendant's buildings, noting the risk to health and safety being risk of sustaining injury from falling or sustaining electric shock (there were a number of electrical wires close to the area where the painting was taking place).