Company fires worker who posted video of forklift stunts on Web
November 18, 2008 by Fred HosierPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Safety training, Stupid human safety tricks
PDF Stupid: Performing stunts on a forklift. Really stupid: Recording the stunts and posting them on the Web.
But that’s exactly what Australian forklift driver Matthew Ward did.
Ward set up a video camera at work to record his exploits, which included some wheelies, burnouts and crashing into a stack of concrete pipes.
He must’ve been proud of his forklift maneuvers because he posted them on YouTube.
Word spread, and his employer, a Melbourne-area company that makes pipes, turned him over to police and fired him.
A court has fined him the equivalent of about U.S. $800. He lost his license to drive forklifts.
He pleaded guilty to a single count of failing to take care of his own health and safety. He also has to take a week-long occupational safety course and perform 50 hours of community service.
Oh, and his YouTube video? It’s been pulled
If a similar incident happened in the U.S., an employer could go after him for damage to the pipes he drove into. But the possibility of fining a worker for such safety infractions and requiring him to attend safety courses doesn’t exist in the U.S.
Do you think it should? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
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Tags: forklift, safety courses, stunts
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November 18th, 2008 at 9:11 am
YES, YES
Fines work but only to a limited extent. Attending safety courses and community service (with a big sign around his neck) raise more awareness. Isn’t safety really about awareness?
Oh, and maybe handcuffed on public display in the town square would also help as a deterent of human stupidity.
November 21st, 2008 at 2:50 am
Shouldn’t he be fired?
November 24th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Yes, employees should be required to attend additional training on Saturdays for no less than 8 hours, just like traffic school used to be. I know the one time I went it was such a long day and I have not forgotten it. Employees are willing to pay fines because they say they can make the pay back in working overtime and “dragging” their feet on the job. When you require their time WITHOUT pay as punishment for their wrong doing then they will think twice about doing something stupid and hazardous to themselves or company equipment.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Yes to both. US law has been aimed at the company solely for too long. Individual responsibility should be encouraged and enforced.
November 24th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Yes, we need stiffer consequences for safety violations to help safety professionals get the message across that safety is important. Making them attend safety courses is applicable, it will reinforce the message, and knowledge is power.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Yes, I believe we need to hold people accountable for their actions. This person was obviously engaging in horseplay which could be grounds for dismissal.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Yes - I agree that we need to hold more employees accountable for their actions when it is blatant disregard for life and property. I think it should hit them in the pocket book - retraining is an easy out and in this case I am sure the guy knew what he was doing was wrong so going through a training class might not change behavior.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I agree that a court fine would help in many cases. Right now, in the USA, union and non-union workers do not have any accountability for working safe other than that of the company. The company can fire, require training, demote, mandate time off without pay, and other disciplinary actions for the horse play activities. But the company cannot “fine” the employee.
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 am
What do they mean, he can’t be fired in the USA? OSHA requires a disciplinary policy. Not only can he be fired, but this is also misconduct, which means no unemployment insurance, either.
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:48 pm
But disciplinary policy usually cannot allow a company to fire somone for their first offense there has to be documentation of the behavior reoccuring. I agree with Howard, companies have been held soley responsible for so long, with employees having no responsibility. You can tell an employee over and over what is expected of them, such as proper PPE wearing, however you can’t stand over them every minute of every day to make sure they are following the rules.
December 15th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Deliberate and willful destruction of company property is grounds for immediate termination, union or not (at least every union contract I’ve ever read). And yes, it does constitute misconduct, which negates unemployment benefits in most, if not all, states. If I’m not mistaken, individuals may also be prosecuted for “willful and deliberate” violations of an “egregious” nature, but rarely are in the USA unless that violation results in serious injury or death. Court mandated fines, community service, and mandatory safety training outside the auspices of the employer, may go a long way in deterring “stupid human tricks” in the workplace. I would support this whole heartedly.
December 17th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
In this country, we have freedoms that other countries do not imagine. One is that our governments take a step back when it comes to employee behaviors on the job. Employers have virtually all of the authority to manage their own employees. OSHA has left it up to them.
A government - Federal, state, local - will generally not step into the middle of the employer-employee relationship and fine employees for misbehavior. The employer has the power to decide what consequences are appropriate within the restrictions of employment standards, etc., for example, through docking pay, suspension, or termination.
Being a Conservative person, I can only think our governments already have their big noses too deep into our businesses as it is without further increasing their intrusions into the workplace.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Should of left the video on U-Tube. Sure it is not bad as some of that stuff is on there.
March 16th, 2009 at 8:28 am
I will have to agree with Bill Kowalski, the United States has the option of governing itself and should leave the Private sector to govern itself through sound company policy and good leadership. Could it be possible that this guy being destructive on U-tube was not being properly supervised. Could it be also that if his company had programs in place like “Lean” or ” Vision”, this type of activity could not or would not occur to the level of mis-behavior it did. People are the same everywhere, you must Lead them in the direction that makes for a safe and profitable enviroment.
March 16th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Fire him for what he did. Make him pay for any damage he did, but the government cannot be allowed to fine him for endangering himself. If others were in the area then fine him for endangering them. But again, a person should be allowed to be as stupid as they want if they are only hurting themselves.
March 16th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Yes I feel that OSHA should be able to fine the worker as well as the company. Worker accountability is a good thing. Employers can do all the right things such as train, test, evaluate and enforce the rules but the employer is held accountable for any infraction. Our neighbors to the North have it right.
April 6th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
No, the federal government has no constitutional basis for intruding into private industry at that level. The employer should recover damages and should address the unsafe behavior through pre-determined, escalating penalties up to, and including, including dismissal.
OSHA’s scope is restricted to ensuring that the employer provides a workplace that is free from recognized hazards. If the employer does not take adequate steps to see to it that a fool does not continue to create hazards for co-workers and self, the employer should be fined under the general duty clause.
April 6th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
In the US, a company absolute CAN fire him. The information in this story is not correct regarding that issue.
July 22nd, 2009 at 5:03 pm
This is not a case of an bad but unintentional lapse of judgement. This nitwit made a decision to endanger himself and his co-workers so he could display the fact that he has the judgement of a two-year-old.
He should have been shown the door.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I’m with HRLady, There was an employee that conducted himself in an unsafe manner, and broke a 1/4 ” plate glass window in the process. Turns out it was horseplay on his behalf, I asked him if he was familiar with the employee hand book and code of safe practices, when he agreed to being aware of the contents he was informed he has violated sections of both. At that time the Director of Ops. suspended him from work until further notice. Senior Management including HR Director met to discuss the matter resulting in a decision to terminate the employee, documenting the reasons that lead to the decision. In order to apply disciplinary action such as this, Employers must have written disciplinary policy and procedures in place including signed documentation of acknowledgement from the employees that they have read and understand the policy and procedures.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
I’ll go you one better: Having a rule and documenting that people saw it one time doesn’t help if it is commonly violated with management knowledge. It can become nothing more than lip-service when we knowingly fail to uphold a safe work practice.
The floor supervision must uniformly emphasize the safe behaviors, hopefully not just through negative means such as enforcement. Supervisors need to be assigned to watch over compliance with safety rules, and held responsible when overlooking an instance where one of their people violates a rule.
August 17th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I have to agree with you Bill, compliance in every aspect starts at the top, when supervisors do not enforce the rules, they are just as guilty as the employee performing the unsafe act and in my opinion are to be held just as accountable for allowing it to continue. I have recommended on several occassions, with multiple previous employers to discipline the supervisor and a couple times managers for allowing unsafe work practices/acts. On one occassion it was a manager bypassing the LOTO policy/procedure, that manager was terminated. This decision was made by the plant operations manager, he wanted to make sure everyone got the message ” Safety is not an option and never comprimised”, he and I held an all hands safety meeting immediately after the ex-manager had been informed he had been terminated. The ex-manager wanted to take part in the all hands meeting to relay the following “Nothing, no matter how pressing you may feel the job may be, is not worth putting yourself or co-workers at risk for a serious or worse, fatal injury just because you think it will take longer if you follow the safety procedures” Safety procedures are in place for a good reason ” To keep you and others from getting injured or killed” and if you do not follow them then you should not be working here, because you or this case my unsafe act could have potentialy seriously hurt or killed someone I known and care for.
He said much more before leaving but the point I am trying to get across is, everyone is accountable for their actions or lack of.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Negligence and pecuniary liability for damages to vehicle, property, or supplies are the least of the damages. This person should be made an example of. Fines, community service, suspension or termination without pay or without the right to collect. If his actions endangered other people, would he be charged with negligence or involuntary manslaughter? This makes me question the age of the perpetrator. Not to say a mature adult would not participate in these activities but this seems like the work of a bored teenager. Companies should consider adding pecuniary liability clauses in their contracts which basically discusses an individual’s obligation to restore financially what he damaged due to negligence or horseplay.
August 18th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
As in all cases, was this the first time or the first time he was arrogant enough to make public has errant actions. Just think of the product he damaged, the equipment ruined and the lives he endangered. The company should go back three years and check the records of unexplained product losses & equipment damage as well as property damges during the periods of time he worked. He must be liable for all the damage and let it be a part of his permanent wotk record. Recover all losses either from his pension, profit sharing or civil litigation.