Bakery injury easily preventable

The SA Industrial Court has heard that a simple interlock device could have prevented an incident which cost an experienced baker her livelihood.

RB Baking was convicted and fined after pleading guilty to breaching section 19(1) of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986 in that it failed to provide plant in a safe condition and failed to provide and maintain safe systems of work.

SafeWork SA prosecuted after investigating an incident in November 2007 at the company’s Torrensville premises in which a female employee sustained serious shoulder injuries when her arm became trapped by the moving parts of a dough-proofing machine.

SafeWork SA submitted that the employee was able to access the machine via a hinged perspex panel that was installed to assist in cleaning - and that a simple interlock device would have powered down the machine when the panel was raised, as was the case with other similar panels at the workplace.

The court heard that the employee suffered nerve and muscle damage resulting in a “major functional disability … [meaning that] … she can no longer function effectively as a baker.”

Magistrate Ardlie fined the employer $4500 after a discount for its early guilty plea, contrition, cooperation and remedial action.

SafeWork SA says the incident could be traced back to the lack of a risk assessment after the perspex panel was put in.

“Our experience has shown that any modification to machinery in a workplace can bring with it any number of potential new safety issues,” says the Executive Director of SafeWork SA, Michele Patterson.

“Any time a machine is altered, it should be subject to a fresh safety analysis as if it was brand new.”