07:15 am, Tuesday 30 June, 2009

A company was fined $72,000 on Friday in the SA Industrial Court over the death of a first-year apprentice in 2006.

The fine was the highest on record in South Australia.

The company was charged with breaching s19(1) of the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986, in failing to ensure a worker was safe from injury and risks to health at work.

The worker was employed by Engineering Employers Association SA Group Training Scheme Incorporated (EEAGTS) and was placed at the company as an apprentice. EEAGTS had earlier been fined $60,000.

The Court heard that the 18 year old worker had been operating a boring machine when his dustcoat, which was issued by the employer, got caught in the machine’s rotating spindle.

He was sucked into the machine and flung around its inside with sufficient force to sever both his feet and injure most of his body.

The apprentice had been working for the company for about 10 months, had been working unsupervised and was trained by another apprentice.

A worker nearby was alerted to the incident by loud banging noises coming from the apprentice’s work area and rushed to turn the machine off. However it did not have an emergency stop device.

The court ruled that the employer failed to:

* completely Guard The Machine;

* ensure the machine had interlocking devices to prevent contact with dangerous moving parts; and

* ensure there was nothing to prevent the accidental activation of the machine’s continuous run button.

The company also lacked a Personal Protective Equipment policy prohibiting the wearing of loose-fitting dustcoats.

Following the incident, the employer engaged an expert to review the entire operation and to implement new hazard assessments on all machinery.

The company was convicted and fined a total of $72,000 out of a maximum of $100,000.

The maximum fine for offences has since been boosted to $300,000, but does not apply retrospectively.

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