Man's hand crushed, companies fined

Four companies have been successfully prosecuted after a man's hand was crushed in machinery at a Hamilton meat works.

A Department of Labour investigation found that a conveyer belt in the Greenlea Premier Meats plant was not properly guarded, after a contract worker suffered serious injuries when his hand got caught beneath it in February 2009.

The department's Waikato manager, Ona de Rooy, said unguarded machinery was seen too often in work places.

"The obligation to guard machinery has been in legislation for over a century and the department is still finding inadequately guarded machinery.

"Each of the four companies involved had responsibilities to take whatever practicable steps they could to ensure that no one was injured while working on machinery," she said.

In Hamilton District Court Greenlea Premier Meats Ltd was fined $42,000 and ordered to pay $9000 reparation for failing to ensure the contract worker's safety.

The man's employer, Allied Workforce Hamilton Ltd, was fined $27,000 with $2000 reparation.

Total Solutions Ltd, which installed the conveyor belt, was fined $10,000 with reparation of $9000.

Veron Technologies International Ltd, which designed and built the freezing and sorting system, was fined $5000.

All four companies pleaded guilty to the charges.

The Department of Labour has begun a three year machine guarding project across New Zealand.

- NZPA