Prosecution Details

Being employers of an employee who incurred an injury which, in the opinion of a medical practitioner, was likely to prevent the employee from being able to work within 10 days of the day on which the injury occurred, failed to forthwith notify the Commissioner in the prescribed form.

The defendants operate a furniture manufacturing business located in Wangara.

On 3 September 2001 an employee was setting up a spindle moulder. The employee was running a test piece through the spindle moulder when the timber kicked and pulled his right hand into the blades of the spindle moulder.

The injury resulted in the employee having two joints of his right index finger and one joint of his right middle finger amputated.

Notification of this injury was not received by WorkSafe until 30 October 2001 and only after the inspector visited the workplace on 25 October 2001 and issued the defendants an improvement notice requiring them to report the injury.

The defendants pleaded guilty.