Another company fails to protect young worker

A Western Australian engineering company has been fined $40,000 for failing to provide a safe workplace after a 17-year-old employee seriously injured his hand.

The company pleaded guilty in the Midland Magistrates Court recently to a charge of failing to provide a safe workplace, and by that failure causing serious harm to an employee.

In January 2003, a 17-year-old trade assistant was putting panels on a switchboard and needed to cut a piece of Bakelite to use as a spacer for placement of the panels with a table saw.

He had been employed at the workshop for only two months and had not been given proper instructions or training in the use of the saw, but had not been told not to use the saw in the course of his work.

He had seen other employees using the saw to cut pieces of Bakelite, and although the employer claimed that employees had been instructed to use a push-stick, the trade assistant had seen other employees using the saw without a push-stick.

No dedicated push-sticks were allocated for use, and employees wishing to use one had to find a piece of scrap to use.

Although the saw had a top guard that could be manually raised or lowered over the blade, the injured employee had never seen the guard lower than 25cm above the saw blade.

The employee cut the piece of Bakelite twice, and on the second cut, his left hand came into contact with the unguarded blade when he reached around it to retrieve the piece of Bakelite.

His left index finger was partially amputated, and two other fingers and his thumb sustained serious lacerations. His index finger was reattached and tendons repaired on other fingers, but he was left with permanent injuries.

WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today that inspectors were still finding far too many cases where hazardous machinery was not guarded or inadequately guarded.

"There were five court cases last year involving the prosecution of employers for failing to ensure machinery was adequately guarded," Ms Lyhne said.

"We were so concerned about the lack of machinery guarding in WA workplaces that we launched a targeted inspection program in November and December of last year, and inspectors found in some areas that around 30 per cent of machinery was not properly guarded.

"In this case, a young man has been unnecessarily left with permanent injuries which could have been avoided if the guarding provided by the manufacturer had been used properly and if he had been given appropriate training," Ms Lyhne said.

"Guarding is one of the easiest and most obvious means of minimizing the risk of injury to machinery operators, and it has been required by occupational safety and health legislation for a long time.

"It really is not acceptable to expose workers to the risk of serious injury when we have known how to guard machinery effectively for decades.

"We need to put a stop to the workplace culture that says working without guards is OK, and make it understood that guards are there for good reason and should not be removed or shifted just to save time."

Further information on guarding of machinery can be obtained by telephoning WorkSafe on 9327 8777 or on the website at Safetyline