STAFF WRITERS

 

A MORWELL steel manufacturing company with a history of workplace health and safety offending has been convicted and fined $90,000 after a worker’s hand became trapped in a bending machine.

Retired AKZ Pty Ltd, formerly known as AKZ Reinforcing Pty Ltd, was sentenced in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, July 2 after pleading guilty to one charge of failing to provide and maintain safe plant, and one charge of failing to provide workers with necessary information, instruction and training.

The company was also ordered to pay costs of $5023.

The court heard in July 2023, the worker was operating a machine designed to bend lengths of reinforced steel into different shapes. On the day of the incident, he was tasked with conducting a new type of bend which he had not performed previously.

During the process, the worker noticed one of the steel bars begin to twist outwards and used the palm of his hand to guide it back towards the machine, as he was taught. However, the bar’s wired components caught onto the worker’s safety glove and pulled his hand into the machine’s rollers.

The worker sustained a partial degloving of his left index finger and was taken to hospital for surgery.

A WorkSafe investigation revealed that while a guard was available for the machine’s danger area, it was an optional feature that had not been fitted onto the machine since its purchase.

The company’s instructions to the worker also directly contradicted the machine’s operating manual, which warned about the risk of entanglement and instructed everyone, including operators, to stay at least two metres away from the machine while it was operating.

The supplier of the machine had provided initial training to the company, but since then, workers had been training other workers based on how they were taught and there was no consistent or documented training or emergency procedures in place.

It was reasonably practicable for the company to have installed guarding to cover the danger area; to have installed an interlock system to ensure the machine only operated when guarding was in place; and to have provided information, instruction and training on hazards and risks associated with the machine and how to reduce them, on task-specific processes including performing different types of bends, and on emergency procedures when working with the machine.

The court heard Retired AKZ had a history of workplace health and safety offending, and last December was convicted and fined $146,000 over three separate similar incidents with bending machines at the workplace.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety, Sam Jenkin said the regulator had no tolerance for employers who repeatedly ignored their health and safety obligations.

“This company’s failure to learn from previous incidents should be a major red flag to workers and the industry at large,” Mr Jenkin said.

“WorkSafe keeps a watchful eye on businesses known for putting workers at risk and will continue taking enforcement action when appropriate.”

“Aside from the obvious – protecting workers from harm, avoiding tragedies and upholding legal duties – a company that prioritises health and safety generally has better reputation, stronger staff retention and less expenses in the long run.”

To manage risks when working with machinery 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, and;

Place signs on or near a machine to alert employees of the dangers of operating it.