Car runs over construction worker following traffic management plan failures

A construction company has received a $50,000 fine in relation to the serious injury of a worker who was run over by a passing car (WorkSafe Victoria v Montdami [2026]).

The company, Montdami Constructions Pty Ltd, operates a civil construction business in Victoria. During the course of a construction, a house drain was either missing or needed rectification. To remedy this issue, workers commenced digging a small trench across a public road to connect a new drain from the house to a stormwater pit on the other side of the public road.

One worker looked after traffic management on the public road, a second used the excavator to dig the trench, and a third performed manual labour tasks, including working in the trench. During the work, management of traffic was handed over to the excavator operator, as the third worker left the site.

A short time later, a car approached and the worker in the excavator attempted to stop it by waving his arms, yelling and using the excavator’s horn. The car did not stop and ran over the worker in the trench, who received serious injuries as a result.

The Court found, in hearing the plea of guilty, that the company failed to develop a formalised traffic management plan that included:

closure of the road during the task being carried out; and/or
use of a traffic controller; and
use of physical barriers between workers and road users, such as bollards; and
use of signage.

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