The Case

SafeWork NSW v ABC Tissue Products Pty Ltd (2021)

ABC Tissue Products Pty Ltd manufactures and distributes paper products, such as tissues, toilet paper and hand towels. On 10 January 2021, two forklift drivers employed by ABC Tissue Products were working in one of the warehouses. One of the workers asked the other to help him with a tarpaulin on a stack of pulp bales. The pulp bale was approximately 8.5m long by 8m wide and 4m tall. One worker lifted the other to the top of the stack of pulp bales using a forklift. The worker on top of the stack of pulp bales began removing the tarpaulin when he lost his balance and fell onto the concrete ground below. He sustained spinal fractures resulting in leg paralysis and a brain injury.