Finger amputation caused by insufficient guarding, WA company fined

Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd (CBH) pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing serious harm to an employee, and was fined in the Southern Cross Magistrates Court last week.

The incident occurred in February 2014, when a worker was helping to move a stacker/loader which was connected to a tripper on a conveyor. As the stacker/loader moved forward, the worker’s right hand fell onto the rail and the tripper wheel ran over it. The operator immediately stopped the machine and backed the tripper wheel off her hand.

The hand was extensively injured, resulting in three surgeries, the final of which was to amputate her little finger.

The tripper wheel was guarded, but the guard was upside down and incorrectly fitted on the wrong side of the wheel, so was deficient in both design and placement.

In December 2014, CBH implemented a new design of tripper wheel guard to all its 197 sites across the state. The cost was $17.20 per guard, a total of just under $1.06 million.

Magistrate Young held that engineering controls were the best method of ensuring safety and pointed out that the obligation to ensure safety by protecting against human error and fatigue was with the employer.

CBH was aware that there was a safety issue with the guards and that they needed to be replaced, but the fact that they were not replaced in a timely manner was a serious breach of their obligation to provide a safe workplace.

However, the Magistrate did accept that CBH went to expense across the state to eliminate any further injury, that the company had a good safety record and that it was “a good corporate citizen”.

DMIRS Acting Deputy Director General Safety Simon Ridge said it was always disappointing to see injuries caused by insufficient guarding on the moving parts of machinery.

“Guarding of the dangerous moving parts of machinery is such a basic and easy precaution to take, and employers need to take a good hard look at the guarding situation and stop exposing employees to the risk of injury,” Ridge said.

“Subsequent to this incident, the employer installed new guards on all their tripper wheels. But if this had been done earlier, this incident would not have occurred and the employee involved would have been spared a great deal of suffering.

“The fact is that CBH was well aware of the problem with the old guards, but did not take action to remedy the situation until months after this incident.

“This case should serve as a reminder to all employers of the importance of guarding the moving parts of machinery as part of fulfilling their obligation to provide and maintain a safe work environment for employees.”

Originally published here.