A Gippsland transport company with a depot in Hallam has received a conviction and a fine of $110,000 after two drivers were injured in separate milk tanker incidents in 2020.
Peter Stoitse Transport Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday 21 August after pleading guilty to failing to provide or maintain safe plant, failing to ensure persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks, and failing to provide or maintain safe systems of work.
Peter Stoitse Transport Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today after pleading guilty to failing to provide or maintain safe plant, failing to ensure persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks, and failing to provide or maintain safe systems of work.
The company was also ordered to pay costs of $6,358.
The offending followed on from earlier convictions and a $490,000 fine against Peter Stoitse Transport in June 2022 after the 2018 death of a tanker driver in an incident at Leongatha.
In the latest prosecution, the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard a worker raised issues with a tanker he was to drive in February 2020, but a supervisor dismissed the concerns and deemed the truck safe.
Driving in Poowong East, the driver realised the brakes were faulty and, as he attempted to slow down, the prime mover and trailer drifted in opposite directions and jack-knifed.
The driver was taken to hospital with soft tissue and finger injuries.
In June 2020, another worker was driving down Korumburra-Inverloch Road when the trailer suddenly began to sway and the truck lost control before rolling into a ditch.
The driver was taken to hospital with bruising and swelling to his forearm.
A WorkSafe investigation found various serious safety issues, including worn brake drums on the prime mover and trailer and worn suspension shackle brushes which needed replacing.
The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard it was reasonably practicable for the company to ensure its tankers were kept in a safe mechanical condition or replaced and to maintain a system of work to ensure vehicles with reported mechanical defects were not driven until repaired.
A WorkSafe investigation found a number of safety issues with the tanker, including inefficiently performing brake slack adjusters, which slowed the reaction time of the trailer brakes, and deflated suspension airbags, which could cause a trailer to roll over.
WorkSafe executive health and safety director Narelle Beer said it was clear the company had not had not drawn lessons from its previous failures.
“It’s horrifying that a company can be so negligent as to not learn from a tragedy that cost somebody their life,” she said.
“WorkSafe will not hesitate to prosecute any employer who puts the lives and safety of their workers at risk while on the road.”
