Accident on way home was found to a connection to work - employee wins compensation

A car accident resulting in an employee losing his right hand was deemed to have had a substantial connection with his employment and was therefore compensable, a commission has ruled. 

A man employed by a labour-hire company was placed to work as a farmhand at a chicken farm.  The farmhand was exhausted at the end of his shift but had a cold shower and felt refreshed. However, after driving his car for about 20 minutes on the way home, he started to nod off. The next thing he knew, he was waking up while going through a bend. The car left the road and rolled at least five times, landing on its wheels. He was able to get out but found that his right hand was crushed, split and bloody. The car then caught fire and exploded.

The farmhand applied for workers compensation according to the Workers Compensation Act 1987(NSW). He maintained the accident had occurred simply because he had been tired after the heavy manual labour, and blood tests at the hospital confirmed he had neither alcohol nor drugs in his blood. He had been in good health before the accident

There was no evidence that a mechanical fault in his car or that the state of the road had played any part in the accident.  There was no evidence that he had suffered from any medical condition or sleep-related disorder, nor indeed that he had been picking oranges as part of a second job on the afternoon before he drove home.

The arbitrator accepted that he had fallen asleep at the wheel because of work-related fatigue and that this was a real and substantial connection between his work and the accident, as required by s10(A) of the Act.

The arbitrator gave an award in the farmhand’s favour.

Simione Naivalu v Ready Workforce (a Division of Chandler Macleod Pty Limited)

http://www.wcc.nsw.gov.au/Decisions/Decisions/2959-17%20Naivalu%20COD%20SOR.pdf