Cleanaway charged over Adelaide truck crash (Media release)

15 August 2016

Federal work health and safety regulator Comcare today began legal proceedings against national waste management company Cleanaway over a truck crash that killed two people in Adelaide.

Comcare has filed a complaint and summons in the Magistrates Court of South Australia alleging Cleanaway Operations Pty Ltd (formerly Transpacific Industries) breached the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act eight times in relation to the collision.

Each of the charges carries a maximum penalty of $1.5 million.

The accident involving one of the company’s sewage tankers occurred on Adelaide’s South Eastern Freeway on 18 August 2014. The loaded tanker collided with three cars at the Cross Road intersection, killing two people and seriously injuring two others including the truck driver.

Comcare alleges Cleanaway failed to provide adequate training and supervision to the truck’s inexperienced driver. This included instruction on safely negotiating the freeway’s steep descent from the Adelaide Hills, using arrester beds and driving a heavy vehicle with a manual gearbox.

It is also alleged Cleanaway did not maintain a safe system of work to ensure driver competency.

The matter will be heard in the Magistrates Court on a date to be set.

Media contact:
media@comcare.gov.au
0478 305 675