Dangerous forklift driving has cost a young worker his job, his forklift licence and earned him 50 hours of community work and an order to do a 5-day health and safety course.
WorkSafe recently prosecuted 20-year-old Victorian man Matthew Garry Ward after posting on YouTube a video of him doing stunts on a forklift.
The video, which has now been removed, showed him deliberately crashing into concrete pipes, doing burnouts and overloading the machine so he could do wheelies.
Seymour Magistrate Caitlin English convicted Ward, ordered him to do 50 hours of unpaid community work complete a five-day Occupational Health and Safety course and pay WorkSafe’s court costs of $1200.
The court was told that Ward was employed by Australasian Pipeline & Pre-Cast Pty Ltd which makes reinforced concrete pipes at Kilmore.
The clip was on YouTube for nearly two months when it was seen by his boss in July last year. Ward was later sacked for misconduct.
WorkSafe told the court Ward was not wearing a seatbelt and put him at risk of serious injury or death.
WorkSafe’s Executive Director (Health and Safety) John Merritt, said forklifts were among the most dangerous pieces of equipment in Victorian workplaces accounting for 56 lives since 1985.
Of these 19 were forklift drivers. Merritt said unless forklifts were used correctly the consequences were often serious especially if a seatbelt was not used and the machine tipped.
“In this case, the young man has put himself at risk, and while he suffered no physical injury has had to face legal and other consequences which had ongoing consequences.
“With WorkSafe currently running a campaign targeting young workers our message continues to be ‘Don’t take unnecessary risks’.
“You might think you’re in control of the situation, but when something goes wrong, it will happen quickly, with little warning, often with permanent consequences.
“Posting stunts like this on YouTube encourages other people to do the same thing, putting them at risk as well.”
The court was told Ward’s suspended forklift licence would be cancelled after today’s guilty plea.