Safety alert issued after worker fatally crushed by car

In December 2021, the sole director of a rent-a-car business was crushed to death when the vehicle he was working on fell on him. Early investigations by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland revealed that the man was repairing the vehicle after it had broken down a few days earlier. It appears the man had removed the front passenger wheel when the car slipped off the bottle jack and crushed him.

During a service or when repairs are done, vehicles often need to be raised on a hoist or trolley jacks. Serious crush injuries can occur when vehicles fall or roll off hoists, trolley jacks or axle stands; when used on sloping or uneven ground, the injury risk increases. Serious crush injuries can also occur when lifting equipment is used incorrectly, not maintained or overloaded, or if the park brake is not engaged and the wheels are not chocked. Vehicles left in gear, causing them to lurch forward, can also increase the risk of crush injuries, along with heavily loaded vehicles (including attachments and modifications) that are unstable or tip over when raised on hoists. Many of these incidents have occurred due to poor planning of the lifting operation — often because basic factors have been overlooked.

Effective risk management begins with a commitment to health and safety from those who manage the business. If an incident occurs, business owners will need to show the regulator that they have used an effective risk management process. This responsibility is covered by the primary duty of care in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. Business owners are advised to use the hierarchy of controls to help decide how to eliminate and reduce risks in the workplace. The hierarchy of controls ranks types of control methods from the highest level of protection and reliability to the lowest. It’s a step-by-step approach to eliminating or reducing risks. Business owners are advised to work through the hierarchy of controls when managing risks, to eliminate the hazard.

Workers can be seriously injured or killed when vehicles have not been effectively immobilised while work is being done underneath them. The risk of the vehicle moving in an uncontrolled or unexpected manner must be managed by ensuring appropriate controls are put in place. These controls include ensuring that operators have been instructed, trained or supervised in the safe use of equipment, and using components to support a vehicle, such as suitably load-rated stands and lifting devices, which should only be used and maintained according to the manufacturer’s specifications and instructions. Trolley jacks, scissor jacks and bottle jacks are not designed to hold a vehicle while people work underneath — the vehicle should be placed on axle stands after it has been jacked to the required height.

Business owners are advised to consider heavy vehicle accessories which may alter the vehicle’s centre of gravity, and to always apply the hand brake and place the vehicle in park or neutral when on a hoist or jack. Business owners should also use a flat even surface that can bear the general load of the vehicle and the point load of any equipment such as jacks or lifting equipment. The lifting point should be identified to correctly position the jack under the vehicle; this can be done by checking the manual or with the manufacturer. When working alone, business owners should plan ahead and let others know where they are and check in regularly. Installing a handbrake warning system can also reduce risks, by alerting drivers when the handbrake has not been applied (these can be retrofitted). Wheels on both sides of the vehicle should also be chocked, using serviceable purpose-built chocks.

Plants that support vehicles must be used/designed to ensure structural integrity and stability, and be fitted with an additional backup safety system which must be engaged prior to commencing work underneath the plant. It is important to develop a safe work procedure that incorporates maintenance and repairs in line with the manufacturer’s recommendations, along with the use of stands, jacks, chocks or other systems for immobilising vehicles. Safe work procedures should also include processes to isolate and effectively immobilise vehicles, which can include lockout and tag out procedures.

Business owners should provide workers with instruction, training and supervision on safe work procedures, while ensuring that worker training, experience and competency aligns with the requirements and complexity of the task. Exclusion zones must also be established, clearly marked and enforced around vehicles. The control measures put in place must be reviewed regularly to ensure that they are effective.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Dmitry Vereshchagin