Di Pietro v Stockland Development Pty Ltd
[2020] VCC 1869 (3 December 2020)
“Walking on the rocks whilst handling a power tool such as a hedge trimmer would be an inherently dangerous thing to do and would constitute “hazardous manual handling” as defined in the Regulations regardless of whether the operator was trimming the rocks or merely walking across the rocks whilst holding the trimmer.“
| Case: Di Pietro v Stockland Development Pty Ltd [2020] Date of Judgement: 3 December 2020 Court: Country court of Victoria Judge: Her honour Judge Smith Expert: Ted Dohrmann, Engineer and Ergonomist, Dohrmann Consulting. Solicitors: Zaparas Lawyers (for Plantiff), Hall & Wilcox (for Defendant) Legal Matter: Plaintiff suffered injury in the course of his employment with the defendant at premises known as the Plenty Valley Retirement Village in Epping Court Decision: Plaintiff was awarded $185,000 for pain and suffering. |
Having heard their evidence, and that of the plaintiff, I am satisfied that:
(a) A person of the plaintiff’s size was likely to be able to stand on one of the concrete surfaces (footpath or spoon drain) and reach out with the hedge trimmer sufficiently to trim the whole side or nearly the whole side without stepping or walking on any of the rocks – assuming the dimensions of the box hedge were approximately the same as when more recently measured.
(b) Such action would require a considerable degree of reaching, stretching and twisting.
(c) At the time of the accident and for some years before, the plaintiff used a Ryobi hedge trimmer to trim the box hedges.
(d) The task of trimming the box hedges was Manual Handling as that term is defined in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007 (“the Regulations”).
(e) Walking on the rocks whilst handling a power tool such as a hedge trimmer would be an inherently dangerous thing to do and would constitute “hazardous manual handling” as defined in the Regulations regardless of whether the operator was trimming the rocks or merely walking across the rocks whilst holding the trimmer.
(f) Whilst walking on the rocks the operator would be likely to be taking note of whether the surfaces of the hedge were straight, level and neat, and whether further trimming was required.
Full court report can be accessed via the Australasian Legal Institute – Di Pietro v Stockland Development Pty Ltd [2020].
