A service station operator has been charged after the death of a customer in an automatic car wash in Springvale in November 2019.
The 73-year-old Mulgrave man drove into the car wash then walked out to re-enter an access code.
As he tried to get back into his vehicle, he was crushed when the wash cycle started and his car door was struck by a gantry.
He died from his injuries in hospital three days later.
WorkSafe charged Chevron Australia Downstream Fuels Pty Ltd with four breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Chevron allegedly failed to:
• Erect signs instructing car occupants not to leave their vehicle while the car wash was in operation
• Fit anti-collision bars or other controls to detect impending contact between the car wash’s moving parts and obstacles in the wash bay
• Remove protruding brackets from inside the gantry legs
• Install boom gates that only allow entry to the wash bay after a valid access code
The case is listed for a filing hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 2 December.
