A New South Wales juice company and its owner have been fined nearly $250,000 after a worker was struck by a reversing forklift at a Griffith factory and later had all five toes on her left foot amputated.
The Real Juice Company, based in the NSW Riverina, was fined $240,000 in the state’s Industrial Relations Commission. Its sole director and shareholder, Anthony Taliano, was fined $9,600 for breaches of the Work Health and Safety Act.
The November 2022 incident injured Grace Poletta, a quality assurance officer. The court heard the accident was not the first forklift-related incident at the site, raising serious questions about how workplace traffic risks were managed before the injury occurred.
Worker left with life-changing injuries
In a victim impact statement tendered to the commission, Ms Poletta said the injury had affected her ability to find work because of her disability.
She said she now needs to elevate her leg because of swelling and discomfort, can no longer run or kneel down, and continues to suffer ongoing sleep problems.
The case shows how a single workplace safety failure can create permanent physical, financial and emotional consequences for an employee long after the original accident.
Court heard of repeated forklift incidents
The commission was told the 2022 accident was the third forklift-related incident involving The Real Juice Company.
In 2012, another employee suffered serious crush injuries after being struck by a reversing forklift at the same site. During an earlier sentencing hearing, the commission was also told there had been another incident involving a worker and a forklift in 2024.
Crown prosecutor Malcolm Scott said the company’s response after the 2012 incident was inadequate, telling the commission the business “didn’t do much” after that earlier accident.
Justice Jane Paingakulam said the risk of injury from a forklift was “patently obvious” and had potentially fatal consequences.
The court heard forklift drivers had not received proper training and were simply told to “drive safely” and watch out for others nearby.
Justice Paingakulam said Mr Taliano’s failure to ensure effective control measures to eliminate or minimise the risk showed a “very significant absence of due diligence.”
Read More
Safety upgrades made after the accident
Since the 2022 incident, the company has spent nearly $56,000 on safety improvements at the Griffith site.
The changes include the development and implementation of a traffic management plan, painted line markings on the factory floor, fixed bollards and metal guardrails to separate workers from areas where machinery operates.
The company has also engaged an external work, health and safety consultant to help implement safety measures.
However, the penalties make clear that safety improvements after an accident do not remove responsibility for earlier failures when a known workplace risk was not properly controlled.
The Real Juice Company has also been ordered to publish a notice about the incident in Griffith’s Area News newspaper and to pay prosecution costs.
Forklifts are common in factories, warehouses and food production sites, but they can cause severe or fatal injuries when pedestrians and machinery operate too closely together. Safe systems usually include proper driver training, separated walkways, clear traffic routes, barriers, supervision and a formal traffic management plan.
For employers, the lesson is direct: telling workers to be careful is not enough. When a hazard is obvious and has already caused injuries, businesses and directors are expected to take active steps to eliminate or minimise the risk.
While this case focuses on workplace safety, The Real Juice Company remains part of Australia’s broader juice manufacturing sector. In related industry news, Canada’s grocery market has also seen renewed attention on juice products with the return of frozen concentrates under Loblaw’s No Name brand. Read more about the return of frozen juice to Canadian grocery stores.
Authoritative source: SafeWork NSW prosecution information
Make Swikblog your go-to source on Google for reliable updates, smart insights, and daily trends.
