Food processing company fined after worker's finger amputated

A food processing company has been fined $10,000 over an incident which led to the amputation of a worker’s finger.

The worker was operating a mincing machine that had a hopper at the top where meat was fed to be minced. He started the machine and climbed onto a stepladder to check the amount of meat going down the hopper. Upon noticing that the meat was only going half way down he pushed the meat down using his hand. His finger got stuck in the mincing area and was injured, requiring amputation.

WorkSafe Acting Director Ian Munns said the case was a disappointing example of an employer’s failure to provide workers with sufficient protection from moving parts of machinery.

“Subsequent to this incident, the employer installed a safe system of work for this mincer that cost less than $3000 – far less than the total $11,548 the company ended up paying in a fine and costs.

“Many workers have been seriously injured when machinery they were working on has been activated. Guarding of the dangerous moving parts of machinery is such a basic and easy precaution to take, and it’s disappointing that we continue to see cases where these simple measures are not taken.”

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Source: Safety Culture - OHS news