Forklift Accident Compensation and Warehouse Injury Claims in Queensland

Common warehouse and forklift injuries

• Pedestrians struck by forklifts, often a reversing forklift, or at a blind corner or aisle end. Crushed feet and legs are common.
• Forklift tip-overs, from overloading, speed, uneven floors, ramps or turning with a raised load.
• Falling stock from racking or from the forks, and racking that collapses after being struck.
• Manual handling injuries to the back, neck and shoulders from lifting, twisting, carrying and repetitive picking.
• Conveyor and machinery injuries, such as hands caught in rollers or pinch points. See our guide to finger and hand crush injuries.
• Falls from loading docks, mezzanines, ladders and trucks.

What WorkCover pays

WorkCover Queensland, or your employer if it is self-insured, pays without anyone having to prove fault:

• medical, hospital, surgery, physiotherapy and rehabilitation costs
• weekly payments while a doctor certifies you unable to work, calculated from your normal weekly earnings in the 12 months before the injury, including regular overtime and penalty rates
• return-to-work support
• a lump sum for permanent impairment once the injury is stable and stationary.

If your employer is a large company that insures itself, see our guide to self-insured employer claims.

What your employer must do

Employers must manage the risks of forklifts and manual tasks under Queensland’s work health and safety laws. WorkSafe Queensland’s guidance and codes of practice set out what that means in a warehouse.

Traffic management

WorkSafe Queensland says a traffic management plan must be in place whenever a forklift is used at a workplace. Its recommended controls include:

• laying out the site to reduce areas shared by pedestrians and forklifts
• physical barriers such as bollards, fences and railed walkways
• clearly marked no-go zones for forklifts and for pedestrians
• clear rules about who has right of way, visible floor markings and signed speed limits
• allowing for stopping distances, tail swing and blind spots
• high-visibility clothing and proximity warning devices.

Licensing

A person must not operate a forklift at work unless they hold a current high risk work licence for forklift trucks, or are an authorised trainee. WorkSafe Queensland’s incident guidance states that businesses must not allow a worker to operate a forklift otherwise. An unlicensed or untrained driver can be evidence of an unsafe system of work.

Manual handling and plant

The Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021 explains how employers should identify and control lifting, pushing, pulling and repetitive tasks that risk injury, for example by using lifting aids, reducing weights, changing layouts and rotating tasks. The Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021 covers guarding on conveyors and other machinery. Failing to follow these codes can be evidence that your employer was negligent.

Can you sue your employer?

Yes, if your employer was negligent and that caused your injury. Common examples in warehouses:

• no traffic management plan, or one that was not followed
• no barriers between walkways and forklift aisles
• an unlicensed or untrained forklift driver
• faulty forklifts, alarms, lights or brakes
• overloaded, damaged or unsecured racking
• unrealistic pick rates, no lifting aids, or too few people for heavy lifts.

A damages claim can cover pain and suffering, past and future lost earnings, lost superannuation, and future treatment. WorkCover payments already made are generally refunded from the damages (section 270 of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (Qld)).

If your impairment rating is under 20%, accepting WorkCover’s lump sum ends your right to sue your employer. You can defer the offer while you get advice, and it is deferred automatically if you do not respond within 20 business days. At 20% or more, you can take the lump sum and still sue.

What if a co-worker was driving the forklift?

In practice you do not sue the co-worker. An employer is legally responsible for the negligence of its employees while they are doing their job. This is called being “vicariously liable”. So the claim is against your employer, and its WorkCover policy pays.

What if I was a labour hire worker?

The labour hire agency is your employer for WorkCover. But the host business that ran the warehouse also owes you a duty of care, and you may be able to sue it as well. See our guide to labour hire and casual worker injuries.

What if it was partly my fault?

WorkCover benefits do not depend on fault. In a damages claim, your share of the blame reduces the amount. Section 305H of the Act lists circumstances where contributory negligence may be found, such as failing to use something your employer provided to reduce the risk of injury, or misusing or interfering with it.

Walking in a forklift aisle is not automatically your fault. If the layout forced pedestrians into forklift areas, or the rules were routinely ignored with management’s knowledge, a court may find the employer mainly or wholly responsible.

Can I be sacked after a forklift accident?

Several protections apply:

• The WorkCover Act. Your employer must not dismiss you within 12 months of the injury solely or mainly because you are not fit for your position because of the injury (section 232B). Within that period you can ask to return to your old job with a medical certificate showing you are fit, and the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission can order it.
• General protections. Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), an employer must not dismiss you for being temporarily absent because of injury, or for exercising a workplace right. The temporary absence protection generally ends once you have been off for more than three months, or more than three months in total in a year, unless you are on paid personal leave. Time on workers’ compensation is not paid personal leave. Separate protections may apply under Queensland workers’ compensation law. You have 21 days from the dismissal to apply to the Fair Work Commission.
• Unfair dismissal. If you are eligible, a dismissal that is harsh, unjust or unreasonable can also be challenged, again within 21 days.

What decides how much a claim is worth

There is no standard payout for a forklift accident. What matters most:

• the injury, how well it recovers and your impairment rating
• whether you can go back to warehouse or other physical work
• your age, earnings and future earning capacity
• whether your employer or a host business was negligent
• any reduction for your own share of the blame.

Our claim estimator explains how Queensland damages are made up.

Time limits

WorkCover6 months Damages3 years Dismissal21 days

WorkCover claim. Lodge within six months after your entitlement arises, usually the day a doctor first assesses the injury (section 131). WorkCover can accept a late claim for a mistake, absence from Queensland or other reasonable cause, but it does not have to.

Damages. Proceedings must generally start within three years of the injury, after a notice of claim for damages. A claim against a host business or other non-employer follows the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld): Part 1 of the notice is due within nine months of the injury, or one month after you first instruct a lawyer and the person you are claiming against is identified, whichever is earlier. See time limits for workers’ compensation claims.

What to do after a forklift or warehouse injury

1. Step 1 Get medical treatment. Crush injuries to the foot and leg can be worse than they first look.
2. Step 2 Report the injury to your supervisor and make sure an incident report is completed.
3. Step 3 If it is safe, photograph the area, the forklift, floor markings, barriers or the lack of them, and any damaged racking.
4. Step 4 Note the forklift driver, witnesses, CCTV cameras, and any earlier near misses or complaints.
5. Step 5 Lodge your WorkCover claim with a work capacity certificate. See our step-by-step guide to WorkCover claims.
6. Step 6 Get legal advice before accepting a lump sum, or straight away if you are dismissed.