Prosecution Details

Being a person who had control of a workplace where persons who were not its employees worked, failed to take such measures as were practicable to ensure that the workplace was such that persons who were at the workplace were not exposed to hazards and by that failure caused serious harm.

The defendant company contracted another company to locate and provide suitable contractors to perform certain tasks for them.

The person contracted was given a job in the planing shed at the defendant company planing wood through a planing machine. It was the first time that the contractor had worked in the planing shed. She put a piece of pine wood into the planing machine. The wood became struck in the planing machine and she pushed the emergency stop button and put her hand in the planing machine to retrieve the broken wood. Her hand got caught in the cutting head of the planer which had not stopped spinning.

The contractor suffered injuries to her hand including comminuted and compound fractures of the proximal phalanges of the index and middle fingers, dislocation of the index finger and a fracture of the neck of her index finger metacarpal. In addition, there was significant bone loss from the distal phalanx of the little finger. Subsequently, she lost half of her little finger and all of her index finger.

These injuries could have been avoided had a guard been placed around the machinhe to restrict access to the planing machine, in particular the cutting head of the planing machine. Since the accident the defendant has installed a guard to prevent such an accident from happening again.

The defendant pleaded guilty. The penalty was imposed under section 22(5).

convicted