Abattoir cake press entanglement death leads to $785K fine
A Western Australia meat marketing co-operative has been fined $785,000 over the death of a worker who became entangled in a cake press at an abattoir.
The incident
The incident occurred at the Katanning Abattoir in 2022, operated as part of Western Australian Meat Marketing Co-operative Ltd (WAMMCO), which processes lamb for human consumption and by-products for animal feed and biofuel. It was in the rendering shed — an area where products not intended for human consumption are processed — that the incident occurred.
The worker was carrying out a daily shutdown procedure at the time, for which a work instruction was to be followed. This was a process to clean out the cake press — which contained paddles that needed to be rotating during the procedure — and involved the worker emptying hessian bags of meat meal weighing 25–30 kg into an open hopper.
The worker was drawn into the large opening of the cake press while in the process of emptying a bag into the hopper, suffering fatal crush injuries.
Fine and WorkSafe WA comment
On 28 August, WAMMCO pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing the death of a worker and was fined $785,000 (and ordered to pay more than $5700 in costs) in the Albany Magistrates Court.
“The machinery involved in this incident had a large unguarded opening with moving parts inside and no protection for workers having to empty heavy loads into it,” WorkSafe WA Commissioner Sally North said.
“As a result of this incident, the company installed a post box-style guard on the cake press with a hinged door and guards on the sides to prevent a person accessing the rotating paddles.
“This incident resulted in improvements to safety in this workplace, but at the cost of the tragic loss of a worker’s life,” North said. “It presents an important reminder to all workplaces with machinery of the importance of guarding, particularly in the manufacturing sector.”
WorkSafe WA said it has recently conducted inspections at most abattoirs in Western Australia and issued compliance notices where guarding or other safety controls were inadequate.
The code of practice ‘Safeguarding of machinery and plant’ outlines the hazards associated with machinery, including guarding, and is available on WorkSafe WA’s website.
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