Sustainable Organics (Wooshaway) Pty Ltd

Incident description:

On 18 December 2009 a 21 year old male worker sustained injuries to his right leg when he was caught in unguarded plant used for plastic bag cleaning.

Plastic bags were crushed using a 'washer' - similar to an agitator on a cement truck. The plastic bags were caught in the 'washer' and while attempting to remove them, the worker's leg was entangled.

Sustainable Organics (Whooshaway) Pty Ltd operated the business of recycling and preparing plastic for export at its Gracemere workplace.

The court found the defendant held obligations under s.28 of the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 being an employer.

The investigation findings presented to the court revealed the defendant failed to:

• adopt a safe system of work for the management of risk
• identify each hazard associated with the event
• assess the risk that may result because of the hazards
• address specific or practical methods of control to prevent the incident from occurring
• train or induct staff on the item of plant.

Following the incident, the defendant:

• implemented a formal induction process at the workplace
• engineered changes to the mouth of the 'washer' bowl in an attempt to eliminate tangling of plastic bags in the 'washer' bowl.

Court result:

The defendant pleaded guilty in the Rockhampton Industrial Magistrates Court on 14 June 2011 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 Annette Hennessy ordered the defendant pay a penalty of $40 000 as well as ordering court costs of $66.50.

In reaching a decision the industrial magistrate acknowledged the defendant failed to put controls in place to control the risk of injury from that hazard.

In deciding the penalty imposed, Industrial Magistrate Hennessy took into account the defendant had not been prosecuted previously for any other workplace health and safety breaches, and cooperated with the investigation.

Considerations for prevention:

(Commentary under this heading is not part of the Court's decision.)

When working in the construction industry where there is exposure to risks from unguarded 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
• monitoring the effectiveness of the control measures to ensure they remain working correctly.

When deciding and implementing control measures associated with the risk of working in and around unguarded, moving items of plant, obligation holders should ensure:

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

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

• Managing risk
• Employer training options
• Training staff
• Modifying plant, machinery and equipment
• Safe work procedures
• Personal protective equipment 
• Plant Code of Practice 2005
• Risk Management Code of Practice 2007
• Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995.