A former shopping mall caretaker has been awarded more than $1.2 million in damages after he was exposed to the scene of a horrific accident at his workplace.

Andrew Hodson suffered post-traumatic stress disorder including recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks after attending a loading dock where an elderly man had earlier been crushed to death by a truck. 

He was called into the Lederer shopping centre in Corrimal on October 26 2020 to cover for a co-worker who was in shock after seeing the crash’s immediate aftermath. 

He went to the accident site and helped comfort the colleague, who was so disturbed that he could not speak. When Mr Hodson arrived, emergency services were on the scene and the body had been covered. 

“[He] was able to see the truck involved in the fatal accident and the covered [body] of the victim located adjacent to the wheels of the truck,” the NSW District Court’s Judge William Fitzsimmons said. “Further, he was confronted with a distressed colleague who he knew was unable to complete his shift because of his emotional state.” 

In June 2021, one of a host of doctors who examined Mr Hodson reported that his symptoms included “flashbacks and nightmares, avoidance, numbness, anxiety and panic attacks, hyperarousal, lack of concentration, poor memory, angry outbursts, and exaggerated startle response. The severity of these symptoms impacted on his mood to the extent that he became depressed. He had no appetite, had lost 10kg in weight within three months, and had intermittent thoughts of worthlessness.” 

Mall owner Lederer said the various doctors’ PTSD findings were based on “an incorrect history” concerning Mr Hodson’s exposure to the accident – particularly how much he saw of the victim’s terrible head injuries. 

It also said Mr Hodson had not provided a full picture of his previous mental health issues. 

But Judge Fitzsimmons has rejected this argument and ruled Mr Hodson’s employers – Lederer and labour hire company Hurex – both failed in their duty of care and must pay for the loss of past and future earnings due to reduced capacity to work, non-financial losses and medical bills. 

Judge Fitzsimmons says Mr Hodson should have been told to avoid the accident site after being called into work. And he rejects Hurex’s claim that Mr Hodson’s presence at the loading dock fell outside his normal work duties. 

“I am satisfied that there was a reasonable probability that a person would suffer psychological injury if exposed to the scene of the aftermath of the fatal accident, that the risk of such an injury was not insignificant and that the precaution the defendant [Lederer] ought to have taken was relatively simple in that it required no more than a direction to the plaintiff that he was not to attend the scene of the fatality,” the judge said. 

Read the judgment here.