Machinery supplier fined over
amputation of worker's fingers
February 2012
The supplier of a
wood chipping machine has been fined $30,000 (plus $12,000 in costs) over an incident in which a worker’s hand was
severely injured.
As the supplier
of the machine, CJD Equipment Pty Ltd was found guilty of failing to ensure that the design and construction of the
machine was safe and, by that failure, causing serious harm to a person and was fined in the Perth Magistrates
Court this morning.
CJD Equipment had
supplied a Peterson Pacific 5000 H mobile chipper to Softwood Logging Services Pty Ltd in Mount Barker with no
guard on the overspout that incorporated a rotating chipper disk.
In July 2008, a
Softwood Logging Services employee was operating the wood chipper at the Oriole Plantation in the Shire of
Plantagenet.
During operation
of the chipper, the overspout (which is designed to eject waste materials from the chipper) became blocked and the
employee left the cab of the chipper to clear the blockage.
He was unaware
that the chipper disk at the base of the overspout was still rotating. His right hand was struck by the
rotating chipper disk and his index, middle and ring fingers were amputated and his little finger severely
injured.
WorkSafe WA
Director of Policy and Education, Ian Munns, said today that the case should send messages both on the importance
of guarding machinery and the fact that the responsibility for workplace safety was not limited to
employers.
“Guarding of the
moving parts of machinery is one of the easiest and most obvious means of minimising the risk of injury to
machinery operators,” Mr Munns said.
“It is up to the
employer to ensure that workers receive instruction and training and observe the safe work practices that are in
place, and the employer of the injured man has already been fined over this incident.
“In this case, it
would have been better to ensure that the machine was safe to operate in the first place, and that’s where the
supplier has to take responsibility.
“WA’s
occupational safety and health laws require that designers, manufacturers, importers and suppliers of plant ensure
that people who properly install, maintain or use the plant are not exposed to hazards.
“This chipper was
supplied without guarding on an overspout over a rotating chipper disk – clearly a breach of the supplier’s
obligation to protect operators from hazards.
“Shortly after
this incident the employer installed a guard on the overspout, unfortunately too late for the worker who sustained
serious and permanent injuries to his hand.
“Workplace safety
is everyone’s responsibility, and I strongly urge anyone with control of a workplace containing machinery with
hazardous moving parts to ensure that those moving parts are safely guarded to ensure the machines are safe to
operate.”
http://www.comm
erce.wa.gov.au/Corporate/Media/statements/2012/
February/Machinery_supplier_fined_over_.html
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