Kruger Enterprises Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 17 November 2008, a 26 year old male worker sustained injuries to his right hand resulting in amputation of the thumb, index and middle fingers when attempting to clear a piece of timber jammed in the moving parts of a timber planer.

The court acknowledged that Kruger Enterprises Pty Ltd owned the item of plant, a 'Wadkin' timber planer, and it employed the injured worker as a factory hand.

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

The injury was sustained when the worker was attempting to clear a jammed piece of timber in the planer while it was still operating.

The investigation findings presented revealed the defendant:

• The defendant failed to follow the Plant Code of Practice 2005 in particular Part 5:
  • dealing with risk management
  • design and manufacture
  • fatigue issues
  • management of the risk associated with plant with moving parts
  • provision of appropriate information to ensure safe use of plant.
• Only administrative controls were relied on in managing the exposure of the worker to the risk.
• The plant in operation failed to meet the Australian Standard for guarding requirements.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Ipswich Industrial Magistrates Court on 25 January 2010 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 Donna McCallum ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $33 000 as well as investigation costs, legal, professional and court costs totaling $2300.

In reaching a decision the Industrial Magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to adequately address protection of the worker, and that a significant duty of care is imposed by the legislation where there is no concept of contributory negligence. There had been some on-the-job training and supervision, but it was inadequate. Post-incident measures taken show that the implemented controls at the time did not go far enough.

In deciding the penalty imposed Industrial Magistrate McCallum took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any workplace health and safety breaches, cooperated with the investigation and entered an early plea of guilty. Further, it was demonstrated the defendant was a good corporate citizen and had offered work to assist disabled persons. The defendant was sentenced with no conviction recorded.

Considerations for prevention:

When working in the wood product manufacturing industry where there is exposure to risks from unguarded moving parts of machinery or plant, 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 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 on and implementing control measures associated with the risk of moving parts in machinery or plant, obligation holders should ensure that:

• such tasks are undertaken by suitably qualified and experienced workers
• a risk assessment of the task has been completed, documented and evaluated.

Once evaluated, obligation holders should implement control measures and training programs to ensure all workers are trained and fully aware of the risks and safe working practices in their workplace.

Control measures that may be considered when exposed to the risk from unguarded moving parts of machinery or plant include:

• ensuring power is turned off prior to adjusting or clearing debris from moving parts
• installing the recommended manufacturer guard for the plant or machinery
• installing automatic emergency cutout switches
• establishing exclusion zones or safety barriers to limit access to the moving parts
• ensuring the correct personal protective equipment is worn when operating the machinery or plant.

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

• health and safety information for manufacturing
• plant, machinery and electricity
• modifying plant, machinery or equipment
• training staff
• personal protective equipment
• young workers
• Plant Code of Practice 2005
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.