VIC company facing charges for staircase hazards posed to employees with disabilities

WorkSafe has filed charges against a hay and grain logistics firm in connection with the fatality of an employee at a storage facility located in Willaura, south of Ararat, two years ago.

The company is confronted with two allegations pursuant to section 21(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act for not ensuring the provision and maintenance of a safe working environment.

In December 2022, an employee with both visual and auditory impairments suffered injuries and later succumbed in the hospital following a fall down a stairwell while on their lunch break.

WorkSafe accuses the company of breaching section 21(2)(a) of the OHS Act by ‘failing to provide a safe system of work to prevent workers with mobility or vision impairment accessing the staircase from the break room at its Kew workplace.’

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