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The employer of a Taranaki man who lost both legs and an arm after being dragged into an industrial shredder in February has been fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $30,000 in reparation.
At the New Plymouth District Court today, Manawatu Waste Ltd pleaded guilty under the Health and Safety in Employment Act, admitting it failed to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employee, Chris Fromont, on February 22.
The Department of Labour announced in July it would prosecute Manawatu Waste, after Mr Fromont, 48, was pulled into the company's tree-shredder at its refuse transfer station.
Mr Fromont was left in critical care after the accident, which saw emergency services working for an hour to free him from the teeth of the machine.
The shredder ripped off both his legs and an arm, and the accident brought a raft of complaints from people who said the machine was notorious for jamming, maintenance levels were dangerous, and the shredder was poorly managed.
The Labour Department said today its ensuing investigation found the shredder was not adequately guarded, nor were there documented standard operating procedures for the shredder.
Workplace services manager for Taranaki Brett Murray warned employers should never take it for granted that employees knew the right or safe way to carry out tasks.
"The more dangerous the work activity, the more vigilant they must be to build a culture of safe work practices," he said.
Mr Murray said the machine had been a disaster waiting to happen. Operators regularly entered the hopper of the shredder to unblock the cutting discs.
"While there were a number of methods which could be used for removing a blockage from the cutting discs, Mr Fromont thought that the only way to unblock a jam was to get into the hopper of the shredder while the cutting discs were going and try and move the blockage with his feet, which was clearly not a safe practice," Mr Murray said.
Mr Fromont had told the department he unblocked the machine in this way every other time he used it.
"With the best of intentions, Mr Fromont appears to have adopted this extremely dangerous work method by default, as he could see no other way of unjamming the cutting discs.
"There were no documented guidelines or procedures for clearing blockages, which should have been a given for this type of operation."
Manawatu Waste had identified issues with the guarding of the shredder as far back as June 2004, Mr Murray said.
The company's health and safety contract manager had at that time raised concerns about the machine, and recommended modifications to make it safe for employees and members of the public, who would deposit material in the hopper for composting.
None of the recommended modifications had been made as at the time of the accident.
- NZPA
