Company fined after worker loses leg in a workplace incident - 28.9.15

A company has been fined $75,000 over an incident in 2013 that resulted to the amputation of a young worker’s leg.

The chaff cutting company pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court of Launceston for failing to comply with health and safety duties, category two.

According to ABC, the 19-year-old worker was pouring bags of seed and chaff into a mixing machine when one of the bags got stuck. The worker climbed onto a ledge inside the machine to retrieve the bag but his pants got caught resulting to his left leg getting trapped in the machine.

He was brought to the hospital in a critical condition. His leg had to be amputated.

Investigation revealed that the there was no guard installed on the top of the machine. No emergency button was also found.

“The machine had been modified quite significantly and, in my view, dangerously by elevating it on metal legs so it had to be filled from above. This significantly increased the risk that a worker could fall into it,” ABC quoted Magistrate Simon Brown as saying.

“Here the danger was foreseeable that a worker could fall into the machine while it was operating.

“The potential risk if they fell into a mixer was that very serious injuries would result.”

The company has since improved their safety system.

(Source: OHS News)