Woodchipper death lands company NSW's biggest fine

A tree management company has been fined $2.025 million after a worker was killed while using a woodchipper.

A1 Arbor Tree Services Pty Ltd fronted the NSW District Court in July where it was convicted over the incident and handed the fine, which is the single largest court imposed WHS related fine for a business in NSW.

The incident

The company was removing trees from the grounds of a school in Lindfield back in September 2021. It’s understood a 40-year-old worker was hand feeding branches into the woodchipper when he was drawn into the infeed hopper and into the internal disc drum, causing fatal injuries.

Investigations discovered that a risk assessment had not been conducted on the woodchipper, which had a number of faults, while adequate training and supervision was not provided to the workers.

The importance of machinery risk assessments

Incidents like these are tragic and are completely preventable. A decent maintenance and inspection regime will include daily pre-start checks and periodic machinery risk assessments. These checks should ensure that each machine has appropriate mandatory and non-mandatory risk controls in place to safeguard operators and bystanders. A risk assessment process identifies any hazards on machinery, rates the level of risk each hazard poses to your workers, and controls and monitors the hazards to reduce the potential for injury or fatality.

Want industry leading risk assessments for your fleet?

Plant Assessor is the platform for you. Our risk assessments can help you identify the hazards that may put you and your workers at risk. Your risk assessments will be:

• Machine specific.

• Backed by legislation.

• Fit for purpose.

• Consistent.

• Automated by the Machinery Compliance Engine (MCE).

If you’d like to find out more about our machinery risk assessments, call our friendly team on 1300 728 852 or email info@assessor.com.au.

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.