In a stark reminder on the importance of machinery safety, a recycling company in Melbourne has been convicted and fined over charges relating to two separate incidents that occurred in 2017 and 2018 at its Laverton North recycling sorting facility.
The company, SKM Services Pty Ltd, pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on August 7, 2020 to all four charges and was fined a total of $115,000.
For the 2017 incident, SKM Services was fined $50,000 for two charges of failing to maintain a safe workplace and failing to provide a safe plant. The company was fined an additional $15,000 on a third charge of failing to provide safe plant relating to inadequate guarding around temporary plant.
SKM Services was fined another $50,000 on a fourth charge of failing to maintain a safe workplace for a separate incident. In 2018 a 60-year-old woman who was working on a paper sorting conveyor line from an elevated platform fell 2.9 metres to the ground below. The worker was taken to hospital with a serious head injury.
Investigators from WorkSafe found there was no fall protection next to the ladders providing access to an overhead footbridge and that the ladders did not have the necessary handrail at the top to assist getting to and from the footbridge.
For more information on this incident, please visit WorkSafe.
How much is machinery safety and compliance worth to you?
Unfortunately the above scenario is a situation we are all too familiar with here at Plant Assessor. As an organisation that is committed to getting machinery safety right, we have seen far too many examples of machinery safety gone wrong, all with very serious consequences.
This recent example from Melbourne highlights the serious ramifications for failing to maintain adequate machinery safety standards. In addition to the life-changing impacts to injured workers, there are heavy fines, significant convictions, along with the reputational damage that businesses also suffer.
The solution is simple
Thankfully, there is a simple way to avoid machinery-related workplace injuries and all the severe complications that come with them. Machinery risk assessment can be conducted quickly with the hierarchy of controls used to manage the identified risks supplied in an easy-to-follow manner.
With our cutting-edge software and knowledgeable staff, Plant Assessor makes all of this so much easier than it used to be. There is really no excuse to run the risk with people’s lives or livelihoods.
How solid are your plant safety management systems? Take the test and find out.
Since 2004, Plant Assessor has been helping people take control of their safety systems relating to plant and machinery.
We have an easy to use self-diagnostic tool, Machinery Safety System Health Check, designed to help people who use plant and machinery understand how solid their safety systems are.
We urge you to take the test and get a better understanding of your system’s health before it’s too late.
Reach out
If you would like some help with your system diagnosis or any other plant and machinery safety concerns, contact us and our team of experts will be in touch to help.
Disclaimer: This information is intended to provide general information on the subject matter. This is not intended as legal or expert advice for your specific situation. You should seek professional advice before acting or relying on the content of this information.