Tawview Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 1 April 2008 a 22 year old labourer sustained serious injuries while cutting a forequarter from a pig carcass with a boning knife.

The court acknowledged Tawview Pty Ltd was the employer of the injured worker.

The court 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 incident occurred when the worker injured in the incident, knocked another carcass which was hanging from an overhead metal rail. That carcass swung back striking the worker which caused the boning knife to lacerate and penetrate the worker's left forearm.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed that the source of the risk was:

• working with sharp objects, namely a boning knife
• the systems of work for cutting pork forequarters, and/or
• working in a restricted area.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Pittsworth Industrial Magistrates Court on 16 October 2009 to breaching s.24(1) of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995, having failed to meet its workplace health and safety obligations.

Industrial Magistrate Ms Kay Ryan ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $32 500 as well as investigation and court costs totaling $1816.

In reaching a decision the Industrial Magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to:

• conduct a risk assessment for the task
• provide instruction and training to the injured worker by way of safety induction training and safe knife usage
• supply all personal protective equipment required by the injured worker to perform the task
• identify the hazard and implement a safe system of work for the removal of forequarters from pig carcasses in a confined space.

In deciding the penalty Industrial Magistrate Ryan took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any workplace health and safety breaches, co-operated with the investigation, and entered an early plea of guilty with no conviction recorded.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the manufacturing industry where there is exposure to risks from working with sharp objects (e.g. boning knives), a system of work that takes account of the particular nature of the carcass and the size of the workspace should be considered as part of a risk management approach.

Risk management involves evaluating the consequences and likelihood of harm that may result from the hazard , deciding on 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 risks of working with sharp objects such as boning knives in a restricted work area, obligation holders should consider:

• providing and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment
• providing and maintaining all plant in the workplace
• supplying appropriate personal protective equipment (e.g steel mesh gloves/sleeves)
• ensuring safe systems of work and the provision of information and instruction are in place
• implementing training and supervision for all workers.

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

• health and safety information for manufacturing
• managing risk
• personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Plant Code of Practice 2005.