Workers from Bradken Resources have been questioned in court over the safety of practices at the foundry in Wodonga, in the lead-up to Peter Watson's death.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Leslie Stevens, Bradken's night shift supervisor for the past 18 years, clearly remembers the night of July 22, 2014, when his workmate died after a fire started in his skid steer loader.
He gave evidence on day two of a trial at Wangaratta County Court on Thursday, where Bradken is facing a charge of failing to provide a safe workplace.
On a night where there were staff shortages, Mr Stevens was in another part of the foundry when he was told about the fire.
He told the court he ran towards the skid steer loader with a fire extinguisher and put out what flames he could.
"I could see flames reigniting," he said.
After asking where Mr Watson was, another colleague gestured towards the cabin of the machine and just said "no".
Mr Stevens teared up as he described how he called emergency services and worked with them at the scene.
"I just stayed there, it's my role," he said.
Crown prosecutors have alleged the fire started when a metal casting, which could have weighed up to 300 kilograms and been about 500 degrees in temperature, was lifted by the machine's bucket then fell over the top and back into the cabin - directly onto Mr Watson.
Their argument is the skid steer loader should have never been used to lift the heavy castings.
As a supervisor, Mr Stevens also sometimes operated that machine himself.
It involved picking up sand moulds and smashing them on the ground to separate the sand from the metal casting.
He told the court there were occasions in the past where the casting became jammed in the top of the bucket, positioned "really close" - just 30 to 40 centimetres - to the machine operator.
The solution was to try to "jolt" the skid steer loader so the casting fell forwards.
Mr Stevens said there had been times where this caused sand to come backwards over the top of the bucket and hit the glass window protecting the operator, "but that was in the early infancy of using the machinery" with an earlier model of machine.
Under cross examination from defence barrister Robert Taylor, he agreed the casting only needed to be lifted a metre off the ground at most during the process and the bucket was always pointed forward.
"Nothing in that involves the casting moving towards the operator, it's moving away," Mr Taylor said.
Photographs taken by police detectives shortly after the fire showed the arms of the skid steer loader were raised above head height when Mr Watson was operating the machine the night he died.
Bradken team leader Greg Hunter also gave evidence that there was one time where sand fell back over the top of the bucket and hit the base of the door while he was operating the skid steer loader at the Wodonga foundry.
He also heard of one other incident where a small piece of metal fell out and shattered the glass window when another worker was operating the skid steer loader.
But Mr Hunter said as someone with years of experience working in factories, using the skid steer loader to lift the castings was within safe working limits.
Bradken Resources has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The trial will continue on Monday, when the prosecution plans to call expert witnesses to give evidence.
Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here
