Safety failures should act as warning

WorkSafe has urged businesses to think of a $200,000 fine imposed on a company after a worker died as an urgent wake-up call.

Geelong magistrate Jonathon Klestadt imposed the penalty saying it was regrettable employers, managers and supervisors did not think about the potential for workplace deaths and injuries before they happened. Thirty one year old Noel Robinson died on 6 December 2000 when he was hit by a robotic arm and asphyxiated at the Melcann Ltd plant at North Geelong.

WorkSafe Executive Director, John Merritt said the case was a tragic reminder for all employers to be vigilant in ensuring they meet their safety obligations. "Maintaining a safe workplace is a non-negotiable part of doing businesses. In this instance the risk of the operation of the robotic arm had been recognised, but the safety solution put in place, an interlock switch, was allowed to fall into disrepair and became ineffective."

Merritt said the safest interlock devices include a captive key system in which power is turned off with a key before work is carried out. The key must be removed to gain access to the work area. "Relying on a single solution to a safety issue is dangerous as a failure can lead to disastrous consequences.

"It should not have been possible for this tragic incident to occur. If a piece of safety equipment is broken it constitutes a risk and must be fixed before people are required to work in such situations. It is not good enough to rely on "˜common knowledge' in a workplace to ensure employers are not exposed to risk."

Melcann Ltd pleaded guilty to three charges in relation to the death. It was convicted and fined $200,000 and ordered to pay WorkSafe's costs of $15,000.

Supervisor, James Carney, who knew the switch was broken but allowed workers to continue working with it, was fined $5000 after pleading guilty to failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of the employees under him. The Magistrate acknowledged that Carney had tried to raise safety issues with his superior over time, with little success. Melcann was convicted and fined $15,000 for an unrelated safety matter involving the improper use of forklifts. In passing sentence the magistrate said the WorkSafe slogan, "No one should die at work" was potent in this case.