$325K fine follows fatal conveyor belt crushing

After a worker was fatally crushed in a conveyor belt at Lethbridge, Victoria, a poultry farm operator has been convicted and fined $325,000.

The company had a conveyor system installed to transport chicken manure from underneath various cages inside a shed at the farm, including a horizontal conveyor belt that took the manure outside.

By removing a guard that covered the tail pulley of the conveyor system, workers would sometimes perform work or check the operation of the horizontal belt and adjust its tracking if required.

The incident occurred in March 2023 when a 34-year-old worker was performing works on or in connection with the horizontal belt when he became entangled in the rotating components of the unguarded tail pulley and died.

It was reasonably practicable to reduce the risk of serious injury or death by installing a fixed interlocked guard with a viewing window on the tail pulley or interlocked in-running nip guards over the roller of the tail pulley, or a maintenance jog function to slow the conveyor when the existing guard was removed, the company admitted.

After earlier pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure that a workplace was safe and without risks to health, the company was sentenced in the Geelong County Court on 5 March.

“Employers must take every possible step to protect workers from the clear and obvious dangers associated with machinery and its moving parts, and WorkSafe will continue to take strong action against those who fail to do so,” WorkSafe Victoria Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said.

“Sadly, this devastating incident has cost the life of a young man who deserved and should rightly have expected his health and safety to be a priority in the workplace.”

To manage risks when working with machinery, WorkSafe Victoria advises that employers should:

• Identify hazards, assess the risks associated with them and eliminate or control those risks by isolating them or using an alternative.
• Train staff in the safe operation of machines and equipment and provide written procedures in the worker’s first language.
• Develop and implement safe operating procedures in consultation with employees and health and safety representatives.
• Ensure safety guards and gates are compliant and fixed to machines at all times.
• Regularly service and inspect machines and equipment.
• Place signs on or near a machine to alert employees of the dangers of operating it.
   

Image credit: iStock.com/VidorHsu. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.