WA company fined over man's death

A Perth landscaping company and its director have been fined over the death of a member of the public who was fatally struck by a bobcat.

The 72-year-old man died in November 2011 after an excavator driven by Christopher Lachlan Cantelo reversed into him outside the Innaloo Community Centre.

At the time of the accident, Cantelo had sent all his workers to lunch and was operating a bobcat that had a significant blind spot to its rear.

Total Landscape Redevelopment Service was fined $75,000 in the Perth Magistrates Court on Friday for failing to ensure the safety of a person who was not an employee.

Cantelo also pled guilty to a related charge as the sole director of Total Landscape and was fined $20,000.

WorkSafe WA commissioner Lex McCulloch said the tragic death of the man brought home the crucial importance of taking basic measures to address serious hazards.

Local council, the City of Stirling, was fined $20,000 in August in relation to the same incident.