A juice manufacturing company in south-western New South Wales, Australia and its owner have been ordered to pay almost $250,000 in penalties following a workplace forklift incident that left an employee with permanent injuries.
The Industrial Relations Commission on Friday fined Griffith-based Real Juice Company $240,000 and imposed a further $9,600 fine on its sole director and shareholder, Anthony Taliano, after both were found to have breached the Work Health and Safety Act.
The penalties stem from a November 2022 incident in which quality assurance officer Grace Poletta was struck by a reversing forklift, resulting in the amputation of all the toes on her left foot.
The court heard it was the third forklift-related incident involving the company.
In a victim impact statement presented to the commission, Ms Poletta said the injury had significantly affected both her employment prospects and daily life.
“It has also restricted my day-to-day activities … I need to elevate my leg due to the swelling and discomfort,” she said.
“I can no longer run or kneel down.
“I also have ongoing sleep issues.”
The commission was told during an earlier sentencing hearing that another worker was involved in a forklift-related incident at the company in 2024. It also heard that in 2012, an employee suffered serious crush injuries after being struck by a reversing forklift at the same workplace.
Crown prosecutor Malcolm Scott argued that the company’s response to the 2012 incident failed to adequately address workplace safety concerns.
“They didn’t do much following that,” he told the commission.
“It wasn’t until [after] the second incident that something was done.”
Delivering her judgment, Justice Jane Paingakulam described the danger posed by forklifts in the workplace as “patently obvious” and criticised the company’s failure to implement sufficient safety measures.
“Very little was put in place to control what was an obvious risk with potentially fatal consequences,” she said.
“No training had been provided to forklift drivers who were simply told to ‘drive safely’ and watch out for those around them.
“The failure of Mr Taliano to ensure that there were effective control measures to eliminate or minimise the risk demonstrates a very significant absence of due diligence.”
The court heard that since the 2022 incident, the company has spent nearly $56,000 on improving workplace safety. Measures introduced include a traffic management plan, painted line markings across the factory floor, fixed bollards, and metal guardrails to separate workers from operating machinery. The company has also engaged an external work health and safety consultant to assist with implementing additional safety measures.
In addition to the financial penalties, Justice Paingakulam ordered Real Juice Company to publish a notice about the incident in Griffith’s Area News newspaper. The company and Mr Taliano were also directed to pay the prosecution’s legal costs.
