Runaway Truck Incident Leads to $140,000 Fine for Civil Construction Company

A civil construction company has been fined $140,000 after an unattended truck and trailer rolled away from a worksite in the Adelaide Hills, causing extensive property damage to four businesses and narrowly missing a worker.

Schwarz Excavations and Civil Pty Ltd was sentenced in the South Australian Employment Court after pleading guilty to failing to comply with its health and safety duty under section 19 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA).

What happened
The incident occurred on 20 September 2023 at a construction site on elevated ground in the Adelaide Hills. A company truck driver parked a 2021 Kenworth prime mover with attached tipper trailer on a slope and exited the vehicle without applying the park brake.

The truck’s audible park brake warning system — designed to alert the driver if the cab door was opened without the brake engaged — did not activate. The unoccupied vehicle then rolled across the worksite, down a sloped paddock, through fences, across a road, and into a neighbouring industrial premises.
While no one was injured, the truck caused significant property damage. The most heavily affected business, a specialist car restoration workshop, was partially demolished. A worker at that premises narrowly avoided being struck after the truck burst through a wall.

Investigation findings
SafeWork SA’s investigation established that the audible park brake warning system had been disabled because the horn relay had been removed. This issue had been identified during routine services in June and August 2023, with service reports recommending further investigation. The company failed to act on those warnings.

In sentencing, Deputy President Lieschke noted that the foreseeable harm from the hazard “included multiple fatalities.” The risk to people was high because work was being undertaken on elevated land above an established industrial zone.

The court recognised that Schwarz Excavations had implemented several safety measures, including fitting the audible park brake warning system and requiring daily pre-start checks. However, it failed to adequately maintain the engineering control and ensure service recommendations were received and addressed. The failure stemmed from an “ad hoc approach” to obtaining maintenance reports, which caused the company to miss two separate warnings that the alarm system had been disconnected.

Deputy President Lieschke observed: “This offence is another example of a comprehensive written safety policy, good intentions and a strong commitment to safety falling short of practical compliance with the primary safety duty.”

The court assessed the objective seriousness of the offence as moderate to mid-range and imposed a starting penalty of $200,000. After a 30 per cent reduction for the company’s early guilty plea and demonstrated contrition, a fine of $140,000 was ordered, along with a conviction. The company was also required to pay a Victim of Crime Levy of $451 and contribute $1,210 towards SafeWork SA’s legal costs.

Key messages from SafeWork SA
SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell stated it was extremely fortunate that nobody was injured when the truck rolled uncontrollably through the worksite, across a road and into neighbouring premises.
“Businesses cannot assume safety systems are working as intended. Safety-critical controls must be routinely checked, maintained and acted upon when faults are identified.

“Plant maintenance systems, inspection reports and hazard controls all play a critical role in preventing potentially catastrophic incidents involving heavy vehicles and mobile plant.”

SafeWork SA is currently running a major campaign highlighting the dangers of roll-away vehicles, with the message: Avoid a mistake, engage the brake.

Lessons for workplaces
This case underscores several critical WHS principles:

• Engineering controls such as audible park brake alarms are only effective if they remain functional and are properly maintained.
• Service and inspection reports identifying faults with safety-critical systems must be actioned promptly.
• Written policies and good intentions are not enough — practical, systematic compliance is required.
• The potential consequences of roll-away incidents involving heavy vehicles can include multiple fatalities, particularly on sloping or elevated sites near other workplaces or public areas.

At Paragon WHS, we recommend all organisations that operate heavy vehicles or mobile plant review their systems for:

• Ensuring park brakes are correctly applied every time a vehicle is left unattended.
• Maintaining and regularly testing audible warning systems and other engineering controls.
• Establishing clear processes so that maintenance and service recommendations are received, reviewed and actioned without delay.
• Conducting effective pre-start checks that verify critical safety systems are operational.

If your organisation needs support reviewing vehicle and mobile plant safety systems, maintenance processes, or overall WHS compliance, contact the Paragon WHS team for practical guidance.