A Dandenong South supplements manufacturer has been given a hefty fine of $40,000 after a worker suffered a serious workplace injury when his hand was crushed between two rollers.
Cosmax NBT Australia Pty Ltd pleaded guilty on Tuesday, February 11 at the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court after failing to provide a working environment that was safe and without risks to health for not ensuring adequate guarding around moving machine parts.
The company was ordered to pay $1875 in costs.
In September 2018, a labour hire employee was feeding gel sheets through a machine to press pill capsules, when his left hand was caught and dragged into a series of rollers. He was taken to hospital with serious laceration and crush injuries to his left hand.
The court heard guarding around the roller would have been reasonably practicable to prevent entanglement injuries. The workplace had a total of six encapsulation machines that had no guarding around running rollers.
WorkSafe Health and Safety executive director Julie Nielsen said workers were too often exposed to the well-known dangers of moving machinery.
“Injuries to workers entangled or crushed in machines can be devastating and this horrific incident would have been prevented had the company put guarding in place to deal with an obvious hazard,” Mr Nielsen said.
Source: Herald Sun
