Issue Date:  -  Thursday, 16 October 2003

$10,000 fine after amputation incident

An incident involving unguarded machinery which cost a Hyden farmer three of his fingers has led to the machinery manufacturer and supplier being fined $10,000.

Nomel Holdings Pty Ltd, trading as McDougall Weldments, of Cuballing, received the fine, plus costs of $857.70, in Narrogin Court yesterday.

Following the incident in 2000, WorkSafe brought a charge against the company of providing machinery which was inadequately guarded.

A Hyden farmer had three fingers amputated when they were caught in an unguarded auger on a newly purchased grain cleaning machine.

The farmer had placed his hand near exposed rotating parts on the machine.

The newly supplied grain-cleaning machine was not adequately guarded to prevent inadvertent access to the hazard point.

No operator's manual was supplied with the machine.

"This penalty is another reminder that the responsibility for a safe workplace extends beyond employers and employees," WorkSafe Acting Executive Director Nina Lyhne said today.

"Poor guarding continues to be one of the main causes of loss of fingers and limbs," Ms Lyhne said.

"This conviction follows a case earlier this year where a South Australian company was convicted in Albany of failing to ensure that the design of a grape-picking machine was safe for use in a workplace. That company was fined $20,000 with $9900 costs."

That conviction followed an incident where a worker at Crystal Brook Vineyards fell from a grape-picking machine while he was attempting to clear a blockage in the mechanism.

The man sustained serious spinal injuries and was left a quadriplegic as a result of the incident.

The employer was also prosecuted by WorkSafe and fined $25,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace, and by that failure, causing a serious injury.

"These two prosecutions are important as it is unusual for WorkSafe to have successfully prosecuted the supplier or importer of a machine involved in a workplace incident," Ms Lyhne said.

"Many serious workplace incidents can be completely avoided if safety is built into the design of machinery.

"Many people connected to a workplace have responsibility for the health and safety of that workplace - this includes the employer and the employee, but also a manufacturer or supplier of machinery."

Media contact: Arthur Hanlon on 9327 8654 or 0408 911 322