$30,000 fine after Adelaide metal worker’s fingers sliced

In late February this year I wrote about a young casual worker in Tasmania who had his fingers crushed when a machine fell on his hand. The Hobart Magistrates Court found the offending company guilty and fined them $20,000. See the article here. Now an Adelaide company has been fined $30,000 after a young worker fell victim to unresolved machine safety issues; in this instance, losing the ends of his fingers to an industrial guillotine.

A metal fabrications company recently pleaded guilty to breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing to ensure that the guillotine’s clamping and cutting mechanism could not be activated while the operator’s hands were in the machine’s danger area.

In this instance the employee, aged eighteen, was attempting to clear off-cuts from the area when the guillotine sliced off the ends of his left ring and middle fingers. It was claimed that the company’s director had been aware that the safety switch on the machine had been faulty for several months.  Unfortunately no action was taken to suspend the dangerous machine or repair the faulty switch.

The standards for machinery use are often updated and changing. If you require the information necessary to prevent incidents caused by machinery, please contact Safety Services Australia today. Our senior consultant is a qualified mechanical engineer, has a Master of Applied Science in Occupational Safety, Health and Environmental Management, is qualified as Lead Auditor for OHS Management Systems and has fifteen years of experience in the Australian machine safety field and is truly independent of all manufacturers.

Contact Safety Services Australia on +61 2 9634 5912 or info@safetyservices.net.au