9 An agreed statement of facts in the following terms (formal parts omitted) was tendered by the prosecutor, with the defendant's consent:
3. At all material times the defendant was an employer.
4. At all material times the defendant employed Giovanni Raso (date of birth 8 January 1938) as a plant operator ("the worker").
5. At all material times the defendant was a local council and was responsible for road maintenance in its locality both in its own right and pursuant to an agreement with the RTA in respect of such roads or highways as would otherwise be the responsibility of the RTA.
6. At all material times the maintenance work required to be undertaken by the defendant pursuant to its obligations included responsibility for the mowing of the median strip at Masters Road, Mount Saint Thomas in the state of New South Wales ("the site").
7. Masters Road, Mount Saint Thomas, is a six-lane road. It has three lanes that travel west towards Figtree and to allow both north and south access to the F6 freeway. It also has three lanes that travel east to allow access to Wollongong and the suburbs in the north and Port Kembla and suburbs in the south;
8. The six lanes, three for either direction, are separated along their entire length by a grass median strip approximately 1.3 metres wide. The road is approximately 800 metres in length from east to west intersections.
9. On and prior to 29 April 2002, for a considerable number of years it was part of the worker's usual responsibilities to conduct the task of edge mowing in respect of the median strip in Masters Road, Mount Saint Thomas. The worker would perform this task on a cyclical basis as part of the general maintenance work he was required to undertake for the defendant. On average the worker would perform this work at this site twelve times per year. The work would normally take approximately 10 minutes to perform, 5 minutes on each side of the road.
10. There were other locations for which the defendant had maintenance responsibilities where the worker performed mowing work in a similar way to the work on Masters Road.
11. On 29 April 2002 the worker was carrying out work in the course of his employment for the defendant and was operating a John Deere tractor registration number VWE 549 with a mower deck attached ("the tractor"). He was travelling in a westerly direction in the tractor on Masters Road in the outside lane conducting the work of mowing the edge of the median strip. The tractor occupied the whole of the outside lane, with the hydraulic edger extended over the median strip.
12. At all material times the tractor was proceeding at a speed less than 10 kilometres per hour, at between 5 and 8 kilometres per hour.
13. On 29 April 2002 Jason Williams (date of birth 9 April 1970) was the driver of a Toyota Celica, registration number WKK 118, which was also proceeding in a westerly direction in Masters Road, Mount Saint Thomas, at a speed of approximately 60 to 70 kilometres per hour, having joined Masters Road from the Springhill Road intersection.
14. The speed limit on Masters Road was 80 kilometres per hour.
15. Mr Williams was proceeding in the middle lane of Master (sic) Road and was following immediately behind a Pantechnicon-like truck. At no time while Mr Williams was in the middle lane did he observe the tractor, or any warning signs, lights or other indication that the tractor was present in the outside lane.
16. At approximately 10.00 a.m. on 29 April 2002, Mr Williams changed lanes to overtake the truck, accelerating to between 70 and 80 kmh as he did so. Upon drawing into the right hand lane Mr Williams for the first time saw the tractor, which was then approximately 15 to 20 metres in front of Mr Williams. Mr Williams' Celica came into collision with the rear of the tractor in the outside lane, approximately 500 metres from the Springhill Rd intersection.
17. Prior to the collision the driver of the Celica, Williams, had no warning of the tractor, it being obscured by the truck proceeding immediately in front.
18. The tractor being driven by the worker had hazard lights operating together with a flashing light attached to the front left hand corner of the roof of the tractor cabin. It also had road advisory signs attached to the mower deck at the rear of the tractor indicating as follows: "Grass Cutting - Road Plant Ahead". The signs attached to the mower deck were yellow with black writing.
19. There were no advance warning signs of the kind placed on the roadway at a distance from the work area to indicate the presence of road plant on the carriageway, nor was there advance warning signs recommending drivers to slow down because of the presence of road plant on the carriageway. No trailing patrol vehicles followed the tractor.
20. As a result of the collision between the Celica and the tractor, the worker sustained shock and emotional trauma which caused him to be off work for about four days and to work restricted hours for the following week. The cutting deck of the tractor had to be replaced and the hydraulic rams repaired. The driver of the Celica, Williams, sustained soft tissue injuries in the form of whiplash and his vehicle was written-off.
21. The worker was not supervised in the performance of this work. The maintenance work program was reviewed on a six monthly basis by the worker's supervisor, Charlie Formosa, however these reviews did not include any risk assessment or management, nor was any Traffic Control Plan developed for the performance of mowing of grass areas on RTA or Council roads, including Masters Road. No Job Safety Analysis or Safe Work Method Statement had been developed for the work.
22. Although some employees of the defendant were aware of Australia Standard AS1742.3 1996 Part 3 Traffic Control Devices for Works on Roads,
(i) neither the worker or his supervisor were aware of the Standard