Prosecution Details

Being a person who supplied plant for use at a workplace failed to ensure, so far as was practicable, that the design and construction of the plant was such that a person who properly used the plant was not in doing so exposed to hazards and by that failure caused serious harm to a person.

The defendant operated a farm machinery business in Cuballing that manufactures and supplies farm equipment.

On 2 November 2000 the injured person placed an order for the purchasing of a grain-cleaning machine from the defendant. The machinery was supplied by the defendant to the injured person on 21 November 2000. The machine was manufactured by the defendant and was supplied without any operator's manual or instructional documents.

On 22 November 2000, the injured person was using the machine to grade wheat. He put his hand into the chute to examine a sample of the graded wheat. After he had looked at the sample he inadvertently put his hand down onto the machine. His hand became caught in an unguarded auger that takes the grain from the chute up into the machine, resulting in the injured person sustaining partial amputation of four digits.

Following the accident the defendant provided a metal guard to cover the auger and created and supplied an operator's manual for the machine.

The defendant pleaded not guilty.