August 28, 2014
Parkside Holdings Pty Ltd, operators of the Wondai Sawmill, were fined $35,000 in Kingaroy Magistrates Court today after they pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty after an employee was injured in an industrial accident in 2013.
The maximum fine the corporation could have received for the Category 2 offence under the Workplace Heath and Safety Act was $1.5 million.
WHS prosecutor Trajce Cvetkovski told the court that a 23-year-old worker’s left foot had become entrapped after a guard had been removed from a piece of machinery.
The worker suffered fractures in the incident, which occurred on March 25, 2013 at the Wondai Dry Mill, but was now back working at Parkside in another capacity.
An agreed set of facts and a series of photographs were tendered to the court.
Barrister Max Spry, appearing for Parkside, said the company had taken every measure possible since to ensure that a similar incident doesn’t happen in future.
The “end matcher” – the piece of machinery involved in the incident – had been re-engineered and the guarding modified so the lug chain could be adjusted without the need to remove the guard.
All employees had also been briefed on safe work procedures, extra training had been provided for people working the end matcher, and a new staff member had been employed to monitor the safe operation of equipment.
Mr Spry said Parkside was the largest employer in Wondai with 32 workers. It also supported the local community through sponsorship of the Wondai Show and local sporting groups.
Arguing against a substantial penalty, Mr Spry said that although the Parkside business overall was profitable, the Wondai Dry Mill actually made a $1.3 million loss last year. He suggested a fine of $40,000 would be in range.
He said the company takes its responsibilities for safety very seriously and this was a “first offence” by it.
Acting Magistrate Graham Hillan said Parkside had co-operated with Workplace Health and Safety and had complied with every request asked of them.
He said the company had done “possibly everything in its power” to ensure that the incident could not occur again and had shown compassion to the injured worker.
As well as the $35,000 fine, Parkside will have to pay $1000 professional costs and $79.40 court costs. No conviction was recorded.
