Cryoquip Pty Ltd was sentenced without conviction at the Dandenong Magistrate's Court on Tuesday 10 December after pleading guilty to two charges of failing to provide a safe workplace.
The company was fined $30,000 for failing to provide a safe system of work for employees, and $20,000 for failing to provide and maintain safe plant.
Cryoquip was also ordered to pay $4,000 in costs.
In June 2022, the worker was operating a machine designed to create 90-degree bends in pipes, which required the operator to manually hold a pipe in place while the bending process commenced.
While holding a pipe in place with one hand and pressing the activation button with the other, the machine's first vice clamped down to secure the pipe. Before the worker could remove her hand, the second vice clamped down, trapping two of her fingers.
Concerned that the emergency stop button would pause the machine immediately without releasing the vice's grip, the worker chose to let the bending cycle complete until the vice released automatically.
She sustained a serious hand injury and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
A WorkSafe investigation found that Cryoquip had no formal training procedure for the machine. A manager who trained the injured worker on the machine had not himself been formally trained, and was operating the machine by trial and error.
Cryoquip admitted it was reasonably practicable to have reduced the risk of injury by:
- fitting an interlock between the first clamp and the pressure clamp that would force the worker to remove their hand before the machine's second clamp could close, and not allow the bending process to continue unless the worker's hands were clear;
- programming the machine to have a time delay of four or more seconds between the two clamps;
- ensuring the emergency stop button would release the clamp if pressed; and
- fitting a guard that would prevent bodily access to the machine's danger zone.
It was also reasonably practicable for the company to have provided a safe system of work that included a risk assessment of the machine and to have ensured employees were provided with information, instruction and training on how to operate the machine, including information about how to change the machine's time delay settings.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said this incident highlighted how crucial it was to have the necessary training and safety controls in place when working with plant.
"No worker should have to go through something so gruesome, and on top of that be unsure of what they are supposed to do in an emergency," Mr Jenkin said.
"There is no room for laxity when it comes to working with high-risk equipment and WorkSafe will continue to take action against employers who fail to ensure they are providing safe machinery and proper training to their workers."
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.
- Place signs on or near a machine to alert employees of the dangers of operating it.
