Prosecution Details

Being an employer failed, so far as was practicable, to provide and maintain a working environment in which one of its employees was not exposed to hazards and, by that failure, caused that employee serious harm.

The injured person was working in the by-products area and was engaged in shovelling fines from a press into a collection bin. At that time he put his right foot onto a metal plate covering an auger taking the pressed by-products away for further processing. The metal plate gave way and his foot went through onto the auger. He withdrew his foot immediately and reported the danger to his leading hand. Repairs were arranged but in the interim temporary safety measures were not implemented. A short time later the same worker was again working in the vicinity shovelling the fines into the bin, he stepped back and his right foot went through the hole in the metal plate and was taken in by the auger. The resulting injuries included laceration of the lower leg, crushing of the heel and ankle. Subsequently his foot was amputated.