Issue Date:  -  Friday, 9 July 2004

Big fine leads to guard warning

A $30,000 fine imposed this week on a Bassendean steel company has led to a further warning on the guarding of machinery in workplaces.

West Australian Steel Sales and Trading pleaded guilty in the Perth Court of Petty Sessions this week to failing to provide a safe workplace and, by that failure, causing serious harm to an employee.

A 16-year-old employee in his first week on the job had three fingers partially amputated and another two fingers crushed when both his hands were caught beneath the blade of a 60-tonne brake press.

The space in which the employee’s hands were trapped should have been guarded by a light beam that stops the machine operating if part of a person is within its sensing field.

This light guard had not been operating for the previous two weeks, but the employer had failed to have it repaired.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today that the case provided a timely warning that employers had a legal responsibility to ensure machinery was adequately guarded.

“In this case, the employer had ample opportunity to have the guarding repaired – in fact, it was repaired the same day the young employee was injured,” Ms Lyhne said.

“Obviously the injury would not have occurred if the guarding device had been repaired sooner, and I find this kind of lack of vigilance on employee safety very disappointing.”

Manufacturers of machinery are legally required to make sure that plant and machinery is designed in such a way that operators are protected from injury.

Employers and operators are under an obligation to leave guards and other safety devices in place when machinery is being operated.

Guards should be designed to protect the user but allow access for maintenance, and should not be removed unless the machine is stopped and isolated from the power source and locked out.

“Guarding is the oldest and most easily understood method for minimising the risk of injury to machine operators, and it has been required by occupational safety and health legislation for a long time,” Ms Lyhne said.

“In this case it was as simple as getting the light guard fixed, and the failure to do so has resulted in permanent injury to a young worker just beginning his working life.

“It is extremely disappointing to see that WorkSafe is continuing to have to prosecute where workers have been maimed and their lives changed forever because employers have failed to adequately guard machinery.

“It is absolutely crucial that machinery is adequately guarded, and WorkSafe inspectors will be coming down hard on employers who do not provide a safe workplace by ensuring that this is done.”

Further information on the guarding of machinery can be obtained by telephoning WorkSafe on 9327 8777 or on the website at www.safetyline.wa.gov.au.