1 min read

Customer knocked unconscious by unhinged door

Melbourne fruit and vegetable retailer Saigon Village Pty Ltd was fined $10,000 after an unhinged coolroom door struck a customer and rendered her unconscious.

October last year, employees at the store had noticed that the door had become detached from its frame. While attempting to fix it, they had left the door in place, in a position where it appeared to be functioning normally.

After one of the employees tried to find an Allen key to fix the door and was unsuccessful, all of the employees, including the two who initially remained by the unattached door, then left it completely unattended in an attempt to find a tool to fix it.

A few moments after, the door fell from its frame and hit a passing customer. She was found unconscious under the door.

WorkSafe Victoria noted the business’s failure to continue to hold the door in place, or remove the door and create and exclusion zone using bollards (which they had available), while it was being fixed.

The company pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a fine of $10,000, plus costs of $1,212. No conviction was recorded.

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