Issue Date:  -  Monday, 11 September 2006

Abattoir fined $27,500 for unsafe workplace

An abattoir near Albany has been fined $27,500 for not providing a safe workplace after a young employee sustained serious hand injuries in a conveyor belt.

Benale Pty Ltd – trading as Fletcher International WA – pleaded guilty and was fined in the Perth Magistrates Court last week for failing to provide a safe workplace, and by that failure causing serious harm to an employee.

In April last year, a 17-year-old employee at the abattoir had her hand and arm trapped in a conveyor belt when she put her hand on a roller bracket to support herself as she retrieved meat scraps from the floor at the end of a shift.

The conveyor belt was running, and the sleeve of the girl’s company-supplied jacket caught in the belt and her hand and arm were drawn into the machinery up to the shoulder until a co-worker could locate the switch to turn the machine off.

The girl suffered crush injuries and fractures to her hand, multiple abrasions to the length of her arm and side of her body, and her palm was largely de-gloved.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today the case was yet another reminder of the need to guard the moving parts of machinery and to ensure safe work practices were in place.

“In this case, the conveyor belt was not fitted with guarding, which would have significantly reduced the likelihood of an incident such as this,” Ms Lyhne said.

“Also of major concern was the fact that fellow workers did not know the location of the switch to turn off the conveyor belt, and a supervisor working some distance away had to make his way across the abattoir to turn off the machine so the girl could be freed.

“Subsequent to this incident, the employer fitted a metal guard to the end of the conveyor and also had an emergency stop button fitted and included a segment on conveyor belt safety in the company’s induction program.

“Although all too late for the young girl whose hand was so badly injured, the employer has taken action to ensure nobody else at the abattoir suffers an injury of this kind.

“There are many cases where employees have had fingers or even limbs amputated after they became tangled in machinery, so the potential hazards are very real.

“It is disappointing that we still have to remind employers of the importance of machinery guarding when it has been required by occupational safety and health legislation for so long.

“Guarding is one of the easiest and most obvious means of minimising the risk of injury to machinery operators, and the cost of installing guarding is far less than the cost in human and economic terms of a serious injury to a worker.”

Further information on safe working practices and guarding of machinery can be obtained by telephoning WorkSafe on 9327 8777 or on the website at www.worksafe.wa.gov.au.

Media contact: 
Caroline De Vaney
9327 8744
0408 927 563