Logging factory fined $50,000 after worker injured

A logging factory has been fined over $50,000. Photo / Getty Images

A logging factory in Nelson has been fined over $50,000 after one of its workers was injured while trying to clear a log jam on a conveyor belt by hand.

Nelson Pine Industries Limited was sentenced at the Nelson District Court yesterday, for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of an employee while at work.

A worker was trying to clear a log jam at the factory in August 2014, when he was struck by a 'log kicker', a mechanised metal plate used to automatically kick logs off a conveyor belt.

Following the accident, the worker spent six days in hospital due to a serious laceration to his left arm. He also suffered from nerve, tendon and muscle damage.

The man did not usually work in the Green Waste Area of Nelson Pine's factory.

On the day of the accident he had been told to clear log jams using a metal hook, but found the hook ineffective, and saw other workers doing it by hand.

A WorkSafe New Zealand investigation found the company had failed to identify the hazard of workers accessing the gap between the log kicker and the conveyor belt.

It also found the company had not properly guarded the machine to prevent access to the kicker while it was in operation.

The conveyor had also been altered on the day of the incident to try and reduce the number of log jams but had not been tested before work resumed, WorkSafe New Zealand said.

WorkSafe New Zealand said the company should also have ensured the worker was fully trained or supervised while working in an area he was not familiar with.

The company was handed down a fine $45,000 and was ordered to pay reparation to the worker of $10,000.

WorkSafe's chief inspector, Keith Stewart, says the log kicker was clearly a hazard and should have been isolated to protect workers from exactly this sort of incident.

"Keeping workers well away from dangerous machinery while it is in operation is the best way to prevent these sorts of incidents. Adequate machine guarding is not optional - it's a must."