$44k fine for severe work injury at markets

Freshexchange Pty Ltd had earlier pleaded guilty to breaching section 19(1) of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986 in failing to ensure the safety of an employee at work.

SafeWork SA investigated following reports of an injury at the defendant’s premises at the Pooraka produce markets in May 2008.

The court heard that while working in a coolroom, the employee tripped on a pallet and fell towards the fan. When he reached out to brace himself, the badly-rusted wire mesh guard covering the rotating fan blades gave way.

As a result, the worker suffered the loss of a thumb and two fingers, as well as serious lacerations to his hand. Industrial Magistrate Stephen Lieschke described the injury as “horrific” and noted the significant negative impact it’s had on the worker:

“He still has very limited use of his right hand, so that, for example, he cannot use a knife and fork... (The employer) accepts that its efforts were clearly insufficient and that the employee is left to wear the consequences of its offence for the rest of his life.”

Magistrate Lieschke said the mesh had become “extremely corroded” in the humid air of the coolroom, but there was no evidence of any regular maintenance or system of checking the adequacy of the guard.

He recorded a conviction and fined the company $44,000 having reduced the penalty by 20 per cent for its early guilty plea, contrition, cooperation and remedial action to improve its safety systems.

SafeWork SA Executive Director, Michele Patterson says the process of finding and fixing hazards with equipment must always be detailed and thorough.

“Even the out-of-sight hazards can never afford to be out of mind. “Here a worker has come to harm in the most dreadful manner after encountering a hazard which could have been easily identified and fixed had the right processes been in place to begin with.”

Wednesday 13 October, 2010
Safe to Work