A woman lost her lower leg after a forklift incident at a Trade Depot site in Auckland and WorkSafe says it's "only by sheer luck" a serious injury or death didn't occur beforehand.
WorkSafe said businesses which contend with on-site traffic must learn from the incident in August 2022.
The woman had been waiting to collect whiteware from the customer collections area outside Trade Depot in Onehunga when the incident occurred.
The 68-year-old was struck by the forklift and was left with injuries so severe she had to get her leg amputated below the knee after being rushed to hospital, WorkSafe said.
WorkSafe charged Trade Depot after finding it had no effective traffic management plan to ensure moving vehicles and pedestrians were kept separate.
In addition, WorkSafe investigators found that the lights on the forklift were not functioning at the time of the incident.
"It is only by sheer luck that a serious injury or death was not caused before this incident. Forklifts were moving in and around pedestrians, delivering goods on a daily basis, but the site lacked any adequate systems to manage the risk of interaction between forklifts and pedestrians in the customer collections area," WorkSafe area investigation manager Paul West said.
"One-way systems, barriers, designated crossing points, and speed bumps or signage are among the measures that could have avoided this unfortunate injury.
"All businesses whose work requires traffic management should take notice of this case to ensure they aren't falling short."
In response to the incident, WorkSafe immediately issued two improvement notices to ensure a barrier was put between the pedestrian pathway and vehicles at the Onehunga site, and to ensure procedures were in place for forklifts operating near pedestrians. Both notices were complied with.
"Forklifts are a known risk — many people have died or been injured by forklift incidents, yet it's clear the risks are not being appropriately managed in many workplaces. Risk assessment should consider anybody who could be harmed — which includes both workers and customers, and businesses must not lose sight of that," West said.
Trade Depot was sentenced at the Manukau District Court on February 27 and was fined $350,000.
Reparations of $141,502.12 were ordered.
The maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding $1.5 million.
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