A WESTERN Australian hay processing company has been fined $595,000 and ordered to pay $5510 in costs over a serious injury to a worker.

WorkSafe Western Australia said HA Hold Co Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace and, by that failure, causing serious harm to a worker and was fined in the Northam Magistrates Court on 16 April.

In January 2023, a leading hand was working under a labour hire arrangement at the hay processing plant at Carani in the Wheatbelt, operating a small hay press, a WorkSafe WA statement said.

The leading hand climbed through an unguarded area onto the press’s conveyor belt to rearrange some hay bales that had become twisted in front of a chamber in which hay bales were cut in half.

He was pushed by the mechanical arm that pushes hay bales into the cutting chamber and his leg became trapped in the chamber. His leg was fractured, and he suffered a degloving injury.

WorkSafe WA said the conveyor belt did have interlocked gates on the opposite side from where this incident occurred, and opening these gates stopped the conveyor belt.

However, workers had previously accessed the conveyor belt while it was moving by reaching over the conveyor belt and pushing the twisted hay bales. This was faster and more convenient than walking around to the other side of the conveyor to the interlocked gates.

WorkSafe WA said in 2022 an external safety consultant engaged by the company had warned about the risk posed by the unguarded area of the conveyor belt, but the company did not install guarding there at that time.

The company did not have a documented safe work procedure for addressing blockages on the conveyor belt, the agency said. After the incident, a mesh guard was fitted to the unguarded area.

WorkSafe commissioner Sally North said today the case was a further warning to employers to ensure there were safe work procedures in place around the moving parts of machinery.

“It’s disappointing that we continue to see incidents involving insufficient guarding of machinery, particularly conveyor belts,” Ms North said.

“This case should serve as a reminder that a thorough risk assessment should be undertaken in all areas of a workplace, and engineering controls such as guarding as well as safe work procedures put into place to reduce or eliminate any risks present.

“Along with putting these controls in place, I urge employers to ensure that all workers are aware of machinery related risks and how to do their work safely,” Ms North said.

“In this case, the employer had been made aware of the missing conveyor belt guards but had not taken action to remedy the problem.

“Guarding needs to be designed to reduce not only the risks during standard operation of the machinery but also risks that may arise when a worker makes an error.”

The code of practice “Safeguarding of machinery and plant” – available on WorkSafe’s website – outlines the hazards associated with machinery, including unguarded conveyors, and how to reduce the risks.