Oakville Produce Pty Ltd

On 14 October 2013, an employee of Oakville Produce was cleaning a machine known as an onion hopper at Oakville Produce’s packing and distribution warehouse. While conducting this task, the worker was struck by a reversing forklift operated by a colleague.

Alleged breach

Section 19(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act), as a person with health and safety obligations prescribed under Section 32 of the WHS Act

Summary of undertaking

Activities Oakville will undertake include:

  • convene WHS training-consultation workshops for members of the Board and key executive managers in 2015 and 2016.
  • implement a program to review and re-issue all traffic management plans for all Oakville Produce Group workplaces around Australia that are compliant with AS2359.2-2013.
  • implement a quarterly series of succinct, high-impact email safety alerts that focus on the key WHS risks or matters that are of significance to the Oakville Produce Group.
  • undertake further work on its existing WHS management systems to have them gain certification by a suitably qualified external auditor as being compliant with AS/NZS 4801:2001 WHS Management Systems.
  • Oakville will create an online WHS information system (OWIS) for key WHS management system documents for access by appropriate personnel.
  • develop and offer on a fee-free basis a toolkit to their valued suppliers (farms and produce-packing businesses) to assist them to manage common WHS matters in their business, and (upon request) offer guidance on how to utilise these instruments.
  • Oakville will host a one day Safety-in-focus Conference for local farms and other business at two of its workplaces (one in New South Wales and one in South Australia).

This undertaking has a total expenditure of $250,000.

Reasons for accepting the undertaking

  • the alleged contravention does not appear to be a section 31 Reckless conduct category 1 offence, which if it was the case, would preclude the proposed undertaking from being accepted
  • the nature of the alleged contravention and the actions taken by Oakville in response to the incident are assessed as being appropriate for consideration of an undertaking
  • the strategies proposed in the undertaking have been assessed as likely to deliver long term sustainable safety improvements in the workplace, industry and community
  • the undertaking addresses the requirements contained within the “Enforceable Undertakings – Guidelines for Proposing a WHS Undertaking”.

Date accepted

9 November 2015

Further information

View the Oakville Produce Pty Ltd enforceable undertaking.

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