Recent prosecutions show ongoing inadequacies in warehouse safety training

2025 so far has seen the courts in New South Wales handing down eight major convictions involving forklift-related incidents. These cases involved both companies and sole traders and have resulted in substantial fines and public scrutiny.

• A worker was fatally pinned by a 7-tonne forklift after alighting the forklift at an Electrical contracting site. The business was convicted and fined $150,000, with a project order imposed.

• A 43-year-old forklift operator was struck and seriously injured by another forklift at an industrial site in NSW. The company convicted and fined $225,000.

• A 22-year-old using a motorised pallet jack collided with another pallet rider and his right foot got caught sustaining injury at a furniture retailer’s warehouse. The company was convicted and fined $390,000.

• In another incident a truck driver’s foot was run over by a forklift while stacking roofing panels. One defendant was convicted and fined $5,000 and ordered to complete training, another defendant fined $45,000. The roofing supply company involved was fined $150,000 plus $15,000 in combined penalties for various offences.

• A 19-year-old poultry worker was struck and killed by a forklift in Regional NSW, where two companies were each convicted and fined $300,000 and $600,000.

The message from the courts is consistent. Businesses are being held accountable for failing to:

1) Provide adequate training and supervision.

2) Maintain effective WHS management systems.

3) Control the risks associated with forklift operations and pedestrian movement.

While each incident differs in its details, they all have one thing in common, failure to meet the primary duty of care under Section 19 of the WHS Act. Section 19 clearly states that every Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of the workers they engage, and workers whose activities are influenced or directed by the business, while these workers are at work.

Another common thread in each of these cases is a lack of training, poor traffic management, and little to no supervision, revealing systemic weaknesses, especially across the transport and logistics sectors, where high-risk machinery is often operated alongside pedestrian workers with minimal controls in place.

The WHS Legislation doesn’t just require a written policy or a once-off induction. It demands systems that are active, reviewed, and understood by every person on site, from the worker on the floor to the senior leaders signing off on procedures. The WHS Management system in place is only as strong as the people who use it. That’s why training and supervision are non-negotiable.

These recent prosecutions are not outliers; they are signs of a wider issue. Compliance is not just about avoiding fines; it’s about sending people home safely.

Now is the time to act. To review the systems. To ask whether training is current and relevant. To ensure managers and supervisors know what they’re responsible for. Because when something goes wrong, it’s not just a system that failed, it’s someone’s life that changed forever.

For more information on WHS training or WHS compliance services, or if you would like help to make your WHS management system even more robust, please feel free to contact us by email at train@courtenell.com.au or phone us on 02 9552 2066