The District Court of New South Wales has fined furniture and homewares retailer Saveba Pty Ltd $390,000 for failing to comply with its health and safety duties after a labour hire worker had his leg partially amputated following a pallet rider collision in the company’s warehouse (SafeWork NSW v Saveba Pty Ltd [2025]).

Saveba operates several household furniture businesses in Australia, one of which is Coco Republic. Coco Republic has a warehouse in Pemulwuy, New South Wales. Many of the warehouse workers had been assigned to their roles through labour hire companies, including Momentum Consulting Pty Ltd (Momentum). Momentum engaged Mr Krupowicz and assigned him to work as a warehouse store person in September 2021. As part of his role, Mr Krupowicz was required to operate an electric pallet rider (a small forklift) to transport warehouse materials. During his onboarding, Mr Krupowicz received ad-hoc instruction on operating the pallet rider, but otherwise was not provided with extensive training for the work he would be undertaking, nor a discussion of the risks and control measures in place to ensure his (and others’) safety.

On the date of the incident in February 2022, Mr Krupowicz and another labour hire worker were instructed to use electric pallet riders to load a shipping container. Both workers were operating their pallet riders in reverse when they began heading directly towards each other. Upon noticing the risk of a collision, they each attempted to swerve – but swerved in the same direction, causing the platforms of their pallet riders to collide. At the time, Mr Krupowicz had one foot extended in front of his platform. When the other pallet rider made contact, it crushed his right foot, causing a compound fracture. His injury ultimately led to the amputation of his right leg below the knee.

Both workers involved in the incident were not provided with the appropriate training to operate the machine. Their informal instruction from other workers was not documented or verified by a supervisor, and their competency was never assessed or documented. The two workers were also not being adequately supervised to ensure that they were operating the pallet riders safely, which includes keeping their limbs within the parameters of the vehicle.

In the judgment, his Honour referred to the considerable volume of guidance material available, which could have informed the company’s training and safety procedures. This included Work Health and Safety Regulations, guides and the Operator’s Manual for the pallet rider, which recommended that operators should (among other things):

• pass training to establish their competency in operating the specific type of plant;
• avoid turning with high speed;
• be attentive about other personnel and other trucks; and
• perform a daily check according to the procedures in the manual.

Saveba pleaded guilty to breaching its obligations under section 19(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) and was fined $390,000. Since the incident, the company has developed and implemented several training modules for new employees to complete during onboarding. This includes location-specific courses for warehouse workers.