The group had drawn down $1.65m in government funding, then argued it couldn't afford the fine
A NSW court has fined a family-run transport business over a workplace injury, after an 800-kilogram gate fell on a worker - and it rejected the company's argument that it couldn't afford the penalty.
The problem behind the case was simple, and it went unfixed for almost two years. In June 2020, a truck damaged the powered entry gates at the group's yard in western Sydney. Rather than repair them, workers began opening and closing the gates by hand. They kept doing it many times a day for 21 months, with no written procedure and no regular check by anyone qualified to inspect the gates. Each gate ran about 11 metres long and weighed 800 kilograms.
It went wrong on March 24, 2022. A worker was closing one of the gates by hand after a truck drove out. The gate rolled past its end supports and fell on him. He was left with lasting lower-back pain and nerve symptoms in both legs, and the court heard he can now work only about 25 hours a week. He has stayed on with the business in a reduced role.
The workplace safety regulator, SafeWork NSW, brought four cases: one against the company that ran the business, one against a related company that employed and supplied the workers, and two against the man who was sole director of both. All three pleaded guilty, and the case reached sentencing in August 2026.
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