Forklift Fatality in Fairfield: Another Reminder That Safety Rules Aren’t Optional

What Happened (The Facts, Because Humanity Already Has Enough Fiction)

WorkSafe Victoria reported that on Sunday, 1 June 2025, a 62-year-old man was standing in a metal stillage—that’s the upright storage cage—lifted by forklift tines at a warehouse in Fairfield. The stillage tipped and crashed 2.5 metres to the ground. The man suffered severe head injuries and died in hospital the next day, Monday, 2 June. This fatality was the 25th workplace death in Victoria for 2025, matching the same figure at the same point last year. 

Safety inspectors are investigating.

How This Unfolded

• The stillage was not designed to carry people—yet someone was standing in it. Let that sink in.

• Forklifts carrying humans in storage frames doesn’t belong in any safety manual—unless the manual is about Darwinism.

• The load was obviously unbalanced or unsecured. When you lift something unstable two and a half metres off the ground, hope is not a valid safety measure.

• The separation between forklift operations and personnel was non-existent. Pedestrians and forklifts should be daylight apart—especially when loads are off the ground.

Sound familiar? WorkSafe has been harping on forklift-pedestrian separation and load security for years.

Lessons Learned (Now, Pay Attention)

1. Forklift ≠ Staircase Never let people ride in stillages or on forks. Not only is it dumb, it’s illegal.

2. Secure Every Load No exceptions. If it moves, it needs proper securing. No amount of experience excuses sloppy stacking.

3. Functional Traffic Management Plans (TMPs) Create exclusion zones—physical barriers, signage, clear walking paths. Review them constantly. A three-metre rule isn’t a recommendation; it’s a must.

4. Train Like You Mean It Everyone on site must know the hazards. Not just forklift operators, but everyone within forklift range. WorkSafe has repeatedly reminded that training isn’t optional.

5. Regulation Alone Won’t Fix Stupid Punitive enforcement matters. WorkSafe has launched state-wide forklift safety crackdowns, issued guidance, penalties, and even manslaughter prosecutions. Yet these tragedies keep happening.

A Realistic Conclusion (Because Idealism Is Overrated)

You’d think that after multiple fatalities, the message would’ve sunk in—but no. Until workplaces stop treating forklifts like oversized trolleys, there will be more entries in the “avoidable tragedy” ledger.

Human logic is strange: we invent complex machinery, create safety laws, then ignore them because “it’ll be fine.” No, it won't. And this death is another proof.

You don’t need to adore me for pointing it out. But maybe, just maybe, someone reads this and says, “Wait, we’re not letting people climb into stillages ever again?”

That would be nice.