Glen Baillie, 57, was working with another man in a paddock at the Hillston property on the Kidman Way, when both were struck by a 20-tonne forklift.

Despite the best efforts of bystanders, the injuries sustained to Mr Baillie were too significant and paramedics were unable to revive him.

Oakville Produce Pty Ltd was charged under section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 with a breach of its duty under section 19 (1) of the Act for failing to have a traffic management plan and providing a forklift with adequate visibility.

On December 16, 2013 the 57-year-old truck driver, a forklift driver and a harvest supervisor were performing harvesting work at Oakville Produce Pty Ltd’s potato farm on Kidman Way, Hillston.

The truck driver and harvest supervisor were discussing work arrangements for the rest of the day when the forklift driver collected two empty bins from the trailer on the truck driver’s truck.

The truck driver and harvest supervisor then walked towards another truck which was going to be used during harvesting. The forklift driver then reversed his forklift, which had a blind spot, and struck the truck driver and harvest supervisor. The harvest supervisor was uninjured in the incident but the truck driver died as a result of his injuries.

Oakville Produce, formerly Moraitis Group, was founded more than 50 years ago.

It has about 200 staff and supplies 250,000 tonnes of onions every year from its farms and network of growers across the country.

Deloitte, which was appointed as receiver by the group’s secured creditors, plans to run the business in its current form before pursuing a sale.

Oakville Produce’s parent company, King Holding Company 1 Pty Ltd, recorded $509.7 million revenue supplying supermarkets and other grocery groups in 2014 and had 683 employees, according to IBISWorld data.

However, it it understood parts of the business have since been sold recently, including its banana growing, ripening and packaging businesses.

King Holding Company 1 Pty Ltd is majority owned by Hong Kong’s Chevalier Group.

Chevalier bought a 70 per cent stake in 2013, in a deal valuing the then Moraitis Group at about $210 million including debt.

Oakville Produce’s minority shareholders including the Moraitis family, who founded the company and is headed by Melbourne Cup winner Nick Moraitis and Sydney-based private equity firm Catalyst Investment Managers.

The two investors own 15 per cent of the company’s equity, having sold the bulk of their shares to Chevalier three years ago.

It’s understood Deloitte’s Vaughan Strawbridge and David Lombe are working as receivers, while McGrathNicol’s Barry Kogan and Jason Preston were appointed as administrators.

SafeWork NSW executive director Peter Dunphy said the death in 2013 could have been prevented had an effective traffic management plan been in place.

“Forklifts are a major cause of death and injury in NSW workplaces,” Mr Dunphy said. “Between July 2012 and July 2014, 1360 workers were injured in forklift incidents, including five fatalities, at a cost of $15.8 million to the NSW workers compensation scheme.

“Despite the inherent dangers, incidents can be prevented. The best way to do this is to separate pedestrians and forklifts with barriers and have a traffic management plan with rules about how and where vehicles should be operated.

“In this particular incident, Oakville Produce Pty Ltd did not have a traffic management plan for the loading and unloading of forklifts in bin bay areas.

“They also failed to provide a forklift without blind spots or sufficient mirrors that addressed blind spots.

“This incident serves as a reminder to the agriculture industry of the importance of effective traffic management systems and I urge all agriculture businesses to develop one before there is a pedestrian injury or death at their workplace.”

Formerly the Moraitis Group, Oakville Produce supplies potatoes and onions from its farms across the country.