An Adelaide tow-truck company has been found guilty of breaching workplace safety laws after the death of an employee four years ago.
Lee Ravlich was fatally crushed at Dry Creek when he became caught between the headboard and the tray of a Dial-A-Tow truck as he returned items to a toolbox on March 14, 2018.
Mr Ravlich had only been employed by the company for eight days and was undergoing training.
Dial-A-Tow was subsequently charged with breaching the Work Health and Safety Act by SafeWork SA, which alleged that the company had "failed to comply" with its safety duty and "thereby exposed Lee Ravlich to a risk of death".
The matter was referred to the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET).
"It is not clear why Mr Ravlich went to the toolbox while the tray was being retracted. The operator had told Mr Ravlich to keep clear of the moving tray," the SAET's deputy president, Magistrate Stuart Cole, noted in his judgement.
"Mr Ravlich went behind the operator and out of his sight. The operator was using the remote control near the back wheel of the tow truck and was watching the truck to make sure everything was clear as the tray moved forwards horizontally towards the headboard.
"The operator then heard a scream … [and] various people came to assist, but Mr Ravlich could not be saved."
The tray was made by equipment supplier AHRNS Handling Equipment, which had already pleaded guilty to a breach of workplace safety law "arising from the same incident".
Magistrate Cole found that, while there were four signs warning of danger within the vehicle's crush zone, they in themselves did not constitute adequate safeguards.
"The defendant had a safety duty as an employer. It knew that the tow truck, as delivered, had a crush zone, and that persons entering the crush zone while the tray was returning were put at risk," he stated.
Magistrate Cole found that "engineering solutions were available" that could have improved safety and reduced the risk.
"The installation of a pressure-sensitive device in the crush zone is, on all the evidence, a reasonably practicable engineering measure at a cost of no more than, and probably less than, about $5,000," he wrote.
Magistrate Cole found Dial-A-Tow guilty of breaching work safety law.
The matter will return to court next month for a hearing relating to sentencing.
