Simple safety steps might have prevented fatality

The death of a worker after just one week into his new job emphasised the need for employers to be diligent in seeking out potential risks, rather than simply reacting to incidents, a NSW Industrial Court judge stated.

Justice Haylen was delivering sentence on the stock feed manufacturer Provimi Australia, following the death of 42-year-old Lionel Gray in 2006 at the company’s Forbes plant.

Gray suffered fatal crush injuries while cleaning the inside of a large mixer when it was activated.

A WorkCover investigation found that Provimi failed to ensure that employees could only enter the mixer once the plant had been isolated and ‘locked out’, and had not undertaken adequate risk assessments of the mixer’s essential operational procedures.

Another Provimi employee said in evidence that the process of cleaning the mixer was “frightening” because the interior was dark and the person cleaning could not be sure that the isolating system was working properly.

The court heard there was a contest between workers not to perform the cleaning task, which had to be undertaken up to 20 times per day.

Justice Haylen fined Provimi $150,000 and said the case provides another example of a gap being exposed in an otherwise extensive system of safety in circumstances where a level of complacency may have crept into the procedures because of a lack of prior accidents.

WorkCover NSW CEO Jon Blackwell said that Provimi responded promptly to the WorkCover investigation of this incident to fit guarding and interlocking devices to the machinery: “This incident serves as reminder that simple and effective steps to protect Provimi’s employees could have been taken at a much earlier date.

“It is important that employers identify any potential hazards associated with plant and equipment, including machine guarding, and ensure that risk controls are in place to reduce risks.”