Insulect Australia Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 16 November 2007 a worker sustained serious injuries when he was drawn into a paper slitting machine.

Insulect Australia Pty Ltd (defendant) employed the injured worker.

The investigation found the defendant held obligations under s.28(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 being a person conducting a business or undertaking.

The investigation findings presented to the court alleged the injured worker and a co-worker were trimming the edges of a roll of paper on a paper slitting machine when the injured worker had his left arm drawn into and around an unguarded roller mechanism.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed:

• the machine had no guarding to prevent workers making contact with drawing-in components
• the machine had been operating at the workplace since 1998
• the risk of entrapment was not identified
• the worker had been inducted and trained, but not given specific instructions regarding the risk of entrapment.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Richlands Industrial Magistrates Court on 6 April 2009 to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to meet its workplace health and safety obligations and was sentenced with no conviction recorded.

Industrial Magistrate Mr Phillip Austin ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $35 000 as well as investigation and court costs totaling $1932.11.

In deciding the penalty imposed Industrial Magistrate Mr Phillip Austin took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any other workplace health and safety breaches, co-operated with the investigation and entered an early plea of guilty.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the manufacturing industry where there is exposure to risks from paper slitting machines, obligation holders should apply a risk management approach to ensure the selection of suitable control measures.

Risk management involves identifying the hazards, evaluating the consequences and likelihood of harm that may result from the hazard, deciding and implementing control measures to prevent or minimise the level of the risk from the hazard and monitoring the effectiveness of the control measures to ensure they remain working correctly.

When deciding and implementing control measures associated with the risk of being drawn into moving parts of machines, obligation holders should consider engineering and installing a guarding system to prevent workers from accessing moving parts. Obligation holders should also consider implementing a training program to ensure all workers are aware of the operation of and the risks associated with the operation of all machinery in their workplace.

Visit the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland website for more information on:

• manufacturing industry health and safety information
• guide to safeguarding common machinery and plant
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Plant Code of Practice 2005.