11.08.2017

Man catapulted from platform

A man is critically ill tonight after he was catapulted from a boom lift this morning after a car ploughed into the platform on Malcolm Road, Braeside, on the south east side of Melbourne in Australia.

The man, James Watt , 39, was - we understand - driving the Grove MZ 86J through the gate to the premises of rental company United Access, in order to load it onto a truck parked in the street at around 5:30 am, when the car struck the basket causing him to be thrown out of the basket. He sustained serious head injuries after hitting the ground and was rushed to hospital. We have no idea if he was wearing a harness or not, or if he was, whether the lanyard was short enough, given that the platform was relatively close to the ground at the time.
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UPDATE

We have now learnt that Watt, a contracted driver, has now died from his injuries, passing away in hospital on September 2nd.

UPDATE 2020

In July 2020 United Access was found guilty of failing to provide a safe working environment and failing to ensure non-employees weren't exposed to risks.
The judge stated: "The risk of a crash between a platform and a motorist was an obvious one. It was a present and identifiable risk and inexpensive measures such as bollards, a spotter to watch the roadway and a sign could have been used to make people aware of the potential issues."

John Wilson the owner of United Access said that he sincerely regretted what happened and that the company had immediately taken action to address the issues. The business was fined $85,000.