The Industrial Court of NSW has fined Real Juice Company Pty Ltd $240,000 — and its sole director $9,600 personally — after a reversing forklift struck a worker at the company’s Griffith bottling plant, causing injuries that led to the amputation of all five toes on her left foot. The court also ordered the company to publicly advertise its conviction.
Key facts at a glance
- Combined penalty: $249,600 — $240,000 for the company, $9,600 for the sole director personally (Industrial Court of NSW, [2026] NSWIC 27).
- The incident: a worker walking into the bottling room was struck and knocked down by a reversing forklift on 7 November 2022, suffering a severe degloving injury, fractures and a six-week hospital stay.
- Both the company (s 32/s 19(1)) and the director (s 32/s 27(1) officer duty) pleaded guilty under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW).
- The court issued an adverse publicity order: the company must publish a public notice of the offence and conviction in the local newspaper.
- SafeWork NSW announced the outcome on 30 June 2026; both parties retain the right to appeal.
- Preventing injuries caused by mobile plant is a stated SafeWork NSW regulatory priority for 2026.
What happened at the Griffith bottling plant?
On 7 November 2022, a worker at Real Juice Company’s bottling factory in Griffith, in the NSW Riverina, walked into the bottling room as a forklift was reversing. The forklift struck and knocked her down. She suffered a severe degloving injury and fractures, spent six weeks in hospital, and ultimately lost all five toes on her left foot.
According to SafeWork NSW’s announcement, the company pleaded guilty to breaching its primary duty of care under sections 32 and 19(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW). The Industrial Court fined the company $240,000, reduced from a $300,000 starting point in recognition of the guilty plea and cooperation.
Why was the director fined personally?
This is the detail that should stop every business owner mid-scroll. The company’s sole director pleaded guilty to breaching his officer duty under sections 32 and 27(1) — the duty of company officers to exercise due diligence to ensure the business meets its safety obligations. He was fined $9,600 personally, reduced from $12,000.
Officer liability doesn’t require the director to have driven the forklift or witnessed the incident. It attaches to what the officer knew, resourced and verified: whether traffic management kept pedestrians and forklifts apart, whether safe systems existed on paper and in practice, and whether anyone checked. The full judgment is published on NSW Caselaw as [2026] NSWIC 27.
What is an adverse publicity order?
An adverse publicity order is a court order requiring a convicted business to publicise its own offence — in this case, by publishing a notice of the incident and conviction in Griffith’s local newspaper. It is one of the less-used sentencing tools in work health and safety law, and courts reach for it when they want the deterrent to travel further than the fine: into the company’s own community, customer base and labour market.
Why this matters beyond NSW: the officer duty and the court’s sentencing options exist in materially the same form in Queensland and every other jurisdiction that has adopted the model Work Health and Safety Act. A Queensland director running forklifts in a warehouse carries the same personal exposure.
How does this compare with other recent forklift prosecutions?
The Real Juice outcome is the latest in an unbroken run of six-figure forklift and mobile-plant prosecutions across Australia — a trend we analysed in our roundup of forklift-pedestrian prosecutions.
| Case | Penalty | Year | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Juice Company + sole director (NSW) | $240,000 + $9,600 (director, personal) | 2026 | Reversing forklift struck a worker; five toes amputated; adverse publicity order issued |
| Steel-Line (Qld) | $450,000 | 2026 | Forklift-pedestrian incident — see our full case analysis |
| JBS Australia (NSW) | $330,000 | 2025 | Worker suffered severe leg injuries in chilled storage |
| D’Orsogna (Vic) | $200,000 | 2025 | Reversing forklift pinned a team leader; no traffic management plan |
| Momentum Consulting (NSW) | $125,000 | 2026 | Labour-hire firm convicted after a placed worker was injured on a motorised pallet rider |
The Momentum Consulting conviction (February 2026) adds another dimension: the fined party was the labour-hire agency, not the host site — convicted after trial for failing to assess the training and supervision of a worker it placed, per SafeWork NSW. Duties around forklifts and powered mobile plant follow the work, not the payroll.
What should employers take from this case?
Regulators keep prosecuting the same fact pattern: a pedestrian and a forklift in shared space, usually while reversing. The compliance expectations are not mysterious — physical separation of forklifts and people, exclusion zones, and operators who are properly licensed and verified as competent on the equipment and site they’re actually working in.
For businesses, that means two practical checks. First, every operator holds a current high risk work licence (forklifts require an LF licence, gained through the nationally recognised unit TLILIC0003). Second, competency is verified for your site and equipment — especially for new starters and labour hire, the exact gap that cost Momentum Consulting $125,000. Our guide to forklift verification of competency covers when employers need it.
FMS Training delivers forklift licence training (TLILIC0003) in person at Lawnton, north of Brisbane — nationally recognised, delivered by a registered training organisation (RTO 45189) with more than 1,300 five-star reviews.
Frequently asked questions
How much was Real Juice Company fined over the forklift incident?
The Industrial Court of NSW fined Real Juice Company Pty Ltd $240,000 and its sole director $9,600 personally — a combined $249,600. Both penalties were reduced from higher starting points for guilty pleas and cooperation, and both parties retain the right to appeal.
Why was the director fined personally?
He pleaded guilty to breaching the officer duty under section 27(1) of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) — the duty to exercise due diligence to ensure the company meets its safety obligations. Officers can be personally liable without being present at the incident.
What injuries did the worker suffer?
She was struck and knocked down by a reversing forklift, suffering a severe degloving injury and fractures. She spent six weeks in hospital and all five toes on her left foot were amputated.
What is an adverse publicity order?
A court order requiring a convicted business to publicise its own offence and conviction — in this case in the local Griffith newspaper. Courts use it to extend deterrence beyond the fine into the company’s community and industry.
Why do reversing forklifts feature in so many prosecutions?
Reversing is when operator visibility is poorest and pedestrians are hardest to see. Most recent Australian forklift prosecutions involve a pedestrian struck in shared space, which is why regulators focus on physically separating forklifts and people.
Is mobile plant a regulatory priority in 2026?
Yes. SafeWork NSW has named preventing injuries caused by mobile plant, including forklifts, as a 2026 regulatory priority, and other state regulators are prosecuting similar incidents.
What licence do you need to operate a forklift?
Operating a counterbalance forklift anywhere in Australia requires a high risk work licence (class LF), gained by completing the nationally recognised unit TLILIC0003 through a registered training organisation and passing assessment with an accredited assessor.
Does a forklift licence cover labour-hire workers automatically?
No. The licence is the legal minimum, but employers and labour-hire agencies must also verify each worker’s competency on the specific equipment and site — the failure that led to Momentum Consulting’s $125,000 conviction in February 2026.
Sources: SafeWork NSW media release, 30 June 2026 · Industrial Court of NSW, [2026] NSWIC 27 (NSW Caselaw) · SafeWork NSW — Momentum Consulting media release, February 2026.