Australian juice company and owner fined nearly $250,000 after employee loses toes in forklift incident

A south-western New South Wales juice company and its owner have been fined nearly $250,000 after an employee was hit by a reversing forklift.

The incident in November 2022 was the third involving a forklift at Griffith's Real Juice Company and resulted in Grace Poletta, a quality assurance officer, having all the toes on her left foot amputated.

In the state's Industrial Relations Commission on Friday, Justice Jane Paingakulam imposed a $240,000 fine on the Real Juice Company and a $9,600 fine on its sole director and shareholder, Anthony Taliano, for breaches of the Work Health and Safety Act.

In a victim impact statement tendered to the commission, Ms Poletta said she now had trouble finding work due to her disability.

"It has also restricted my day-to-day activities … I need to elevate my leg due to the swelling and discomfort," she said.

"I can no longer run or kneel down.

"I also have ongoing sleep issues."

Two more forklift incidents

During an earlier sentencing hearing, the commission was told there had been another incident at the Real Juice Company involving a worker and a forklift in 2024.

It also heard that in 2012, another employee sustained serious crush injuries at the site when they were struck by a reversing forklift.

Crown prosecutor Malcolm Scott said the company's response to the 2012 incident was inadequate.

"They didn't do much following that," he told the commission.

"It wasn't until [after] the second incident that something was done."

In handing down her sentence, Justice Paingakulam said the risk of injury from a forklift was "patently obvious".

"Very little was put in place to control what was an obvious risk with potentially fatal consequences," she said.

"The failure of Mr Taliano to ensure that there were effective control measures to eliminate or minimise the risk demonstrates a very significant absence of due diligence."

Changes made since 2022

The court heard since the 2022 incident, nearly $56,000 had been spent at the site, including the development and implementation of a traffic management plan, painted line markings on the factory floor and fixed bollards and metal guardrails to separate workers from areas where machinery is operating.

The company has also engaged an external work, health and safety consultant to assist in implementing safety measures.

Justice Paingakulam also ordered the Real Juice Company to publish a notice in Griffith's Area News newspaper regarding the incident and ordered the company and Mr Taliano to pay the prosecution's costs.