Brickworks fined over conveyor injury

A brickworks and its operators have been jointly fined more than $50,000 by the SA Industrial Court for a series of breaches of workplace safety laws, found to have arisen from an incident in which an employee was trapped by a conveyor belt.

Salisbury Brick and its two directors, Emilio and Italina Bernardi, had earlier pleaded guilty to breaches of the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act 1986 and Regulations pertaining to the safety of an employee at work, maintaining communications with an employee working alone, allowing an employee to operate a loader when not being qualified to do so, and ensuring a company complies with its safety obligations under the law.

The court heard how, in May 2008, a 21-year-old male employee was working alone at the company’s premises at Direk, when he became trapped in the unguarded moving parts of a conveyor belt. Unable to access the controls several metres away, he rang 000 on his mobile phone and called out for help. Three workers from a neighbouring site came to his aid.

In his penalty decision today, Industrial Magistrate Michael Ardlie said the worker sustained “significant injuries” resulting in ongoing pain to his right wrist and elbow, along with psychological trauma.

SafeWork SA told the court that the company failed to assess the safety of any plant or equipment, nor did it document any safe work procedures or policies including any protocol or contact numbers for employees working alone.

Magistrate Ardlie was critical of the state of workplace safety at the time of the incident. “The defendants should have been well aware of the risk of entrapment from unguarded conveyor belts … Overall there was a lack of appreciation of the obligations under the legislation.”

He imposed fines of $28,000 and $6400 on the company and a joint fine of $16,000 on the directors, but noted they are in the process of winding up the company and selling its assets.

SafeWork SA Executive Director Michele Patterson says unguarded machinery is an all too common source of injury.
“That risk is heightened considerably when employees must use such dangerous equipment alone or in isolation. In the past we have had to deal with tragic incidents of workers being killed or seriously injured with no means of communication in place - so a properly working phone or radio system is a must, as is a schedule of regular check-ins.”