Transport company Malec Holdings fined $320,000 after employee was run over and killed by B-double truck

A Melbourne transport company has been fined $320,000 after an employee was run over by a B-double truck in 2020.

According to WorkSafe Victoria, two truck drivers working for Malec Holdings Pty Ltd had just returned to Victoria after collecting an interstate log load in October that year.

The workers unloaded the logs at a Yarraville depot, and afterwards began refuelling and parking their trucks.

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While one of the drivers reversed his truck towards a parking lot in the yard, the other, a 65-year-old man followed the vehicle on foot.

“As the driver moved forward and began a U-turn, the (65-year-old) stood on a pile of wood debris about 10m away,” WorkSafe said.

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As the B-double truck was still reversing, the man slipped off the pile of wood, and was run over by the truck’s rear trailer.

He died at the scene.

Malec Holdings faced the Melbourne County Court on Thursday.

A WorkSafe investigation found the transport company could have reasonably decreased the risk of injury or death at its depot by removing the need for B-doubles to reverse in the workplace and by “implementing a traffic management plan that identified safety hazards and risks”.

WorkSafe executive director of health and safety Narelle Beer said the man’s death could have been avoided if the right controls were in place.

“In any workplace where vehicles are present, a traffic management plan is an essential measure to prevent loss of life or serious injury,” she said.

“WorkSafe will not hesitate to prosecute any duty holder who fails to prepare and implement such a plan.”

Malec Holdings pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe system of work.

It was fined $320,000.

Fifteen workers have died in vehicle-related incidents so far this year.

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