NT fuel company fined $140,000 over fatal lack of supervision
Indervon Pty Ltd pleads guilty in the Alice Springs Local Court today for failing to provide adequate training, instruction and supervision, which lead to the death of one of its drivers, NT WorkSafe reports.
Indervon was convicted and fined $140,000 for one breach of Section 32 of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2011.
In July 2017, a 51-year-old driver, Mustapha Dahmani, was in his fourth week of employment as a fuel truck driver with Indervon when he delivered fuel unsupervised along the Maryvale Road.
He failed to negotiate a curve on an unsealed portion of the road approximately 74 km south of Alice Springs.
NT WorkSafe acting executive director Melissa Garde emphasises the importance of employers appropriately training and instructing workers and supervising them to ensure they are working safely.
Read how the Indervon case first emerged, here
“NT WorkSafe’s investigation raised questions around the worker’s ability to safely operate the fuel truck,” Garde says
“The unsealed outback roads in Central Australia present a range of hazards to drivers who are unfamiliar with the conditions.
“A large proportion of worker fatalities in the Northern Territory involve a vehicle collision, with a majority of those crashes occurring outside of urban areas.
“Employers need to go beyond checking the worker holds the correct licence to operate the work vehicle.
“Employers also need to make sure they provide the worker with appropriate training and instruction to safely operate the vehicle in the conditions they may encounter.”
Indervon is also required to pay a victims levy of $1,000.