Fine gives flavouring company a nasty aftertaste

The major provider of flavourings to Australia's food and confectionary industry has been ordered to donate $10,000 after being prosecuted by WorkSafe.

International Flavours & Fragrances pleaded guilty to failing to implement the requirements of two Improvement Notices issued in relation to forklift safety matters in 2005.

Improvement Notices are a formal direction to improve an identified hazard within an agreed period. Both matters involved risks to pedestrians being hit by forklifts or their loads.

WorkSafe told Magistrate Raleigh an inspector went to the company's manufacturing facility, which employs nearly 130 people, in July 2005 and saw that there were no adequate measures such as bollards to prevent pedestrians being hit by forklifts.

An Improvement Notice was issued but when the inspector returned several months later, he saw that forklifts were again operating near pedestrians, resulting in another notice.

Although there is a capacity to challenge or amend Improvement Notices, neither option was pursued by the company.

WorkSafe has a zero-tolerance policy on forklift safety.

Executive director, John Merritt, said forklifts were among the most dangerous equipment in Victorian workplaces, accounting for deaths and many serious injuries each year.

"Physically separating work areas and pedestrian walkways from where forklifts operate is essential. Many places still only have lines on the ground to show where forklifts and pedestrians should be, but they're only part of the solution, as are reflective vests," he said.

"To places with rudimentary arrangements in place for forklifts, we'd say that relying on good luck or the skill of a forklift driver to stop in time to avoid a collision is not the basis of good safety practice.

"Although safety responsibilities are shared, the employer has the primary duty as they control the workplace."