Engineer Roderick McDonald examined photographs from the Wodonga foundry after the 2014 workplace death and said the skid steer loader should not have been used to lift a "hot device" like a metal casting where the heat would be felt significantly by the operator.

"The bucket is literally there in front of you," he told Wangaratta County Court on Monday.

"It's just awfully close - something could go wrong, you're right in the firing line ... If you would lose the casting backwards, it would fall back into the cabin."

Mr Watson, 42, died on the night of July 22, 2014 when a 300-kilogram casting fell from the bucket of the skid steer loader he was operating and onto his lap, setting the machine on fire.

Bradken has pleaded not guilty to the charge of failing to provide a safe workplace.

Mr McDonald had concerns about clumps of sand being left on the ground, after sand moulds containing the metal castings were smashed open.

If the skid steer loader hit one of the clumps, he said it could lift the front of the machine and throw the casting back from the bucket and into the cabin "like a catapult".

He agreed with prosecutor Andrew Palmer's description of a "rock-back effect".

"They can get quite bumpy - if you have the bucket up nice and high, it can rock back and forth," Mr McDonald said.

"If you hit a lump, you'll actually lift up and rock over it."

Bradken's defence barrister Robert Taylor questioned if the machine would still "bounce" while holding a 290-kilogram casting, to which Mr McDonald replied "yes".

WorkSafe inspector Andrew Taylor also said the skid steer loader was unsuitable for lifting heavy castings because it was prone to tipping over if not loaded correctly.

"If the skid steer loader was to tip backwards, debris, sand and potentially the casting itself could come back onto the operator," he said.

He said the movement needed to get around the Wodonga Bradken factory could have caused a "jerky movement", putting the machine at risk of tipping over.

Both prosecution expert witnesses said an excavator would have been a more stable machine for the task.

Mr McDonald agreed with Mr Taylor's suggestion that a load carried in an excavator could be moved to a similar distance from the operator as in a skid steer loader, but said "in an excavator you sit higher and further away".

The trial will continue on Tuesday.

RELATED:

Receive our daily newsletter straight to your inbox each morning from The Border Mail. Sign up here