A Canberra bakery has partnered with WorkSafe ACT to improve safety practices after a prime mover took out a customer.

The move comes after prosecutors dropped their work safety case against a commercial bakery, owned by Quality Bakers, whose customer was hit while picking up stale bread – something she’d done for 10 years. The impact left her with significant injuries to her knee.

WorkSafe ACT investigated the incident, obtaining CCTV footage in the process. A case was then brought before the ACT Industrial Court, where the bakery was prosecuted for breaching work safety laws.

It had been alleged the bakery failed to put up signs to stop people parking on the concrete and to provide a designated parking area for people waiting to use the loading dock. According to the court ruling, the business owed a safety duty to all persons using the dock during business hours and to appoint a supervisor to watch over the activities at the dock area.

The business will be subject to a legally binding agreement with WorkSafe ACT to improve its safety practices moving forwards.