Baker Fined over Teenage Worker Injury

8th July 2009

A company, which runs a western suburbs bakery in Adelaide was convicted and fined by an industrial magistrate over an incident in which a teenage worker was injured by machinery.

S & E Krotiris and Sons Pty Ltd trading as Champion Bakery pleaded guilty to two breaches of workplace safety laws, in failing to ensure the safety of an employee and failing to report a notifiable injury.

SafeWork SA prosecuted the firm after an incident at its Ferryden Park premises in November 2007. A 17 year old male, employed as a casual assistant, had his right arm trapped by the rotating trays of a dough proving machine, as he reached in through an unguarded rear opening.

The court was told that emergency services took about half an hour to dismantle the machine to free the youth, who suffered nerve damage and soft tissue injuries.

SafeWork SA was alerted to the incident by a media report and an inspector went to the premises the following day to investigate.

It was found that in addition to the rear of the machine being unguarded, no risk assessment had been carried out on the machine, nor had any safe operating procedures been developed as a result.
Furthermore, the young worker had neither been instructed nor trained not to access the machine through the open rear panel.

In delivering his penalty decision, Industrial Magistrate Stephen Lieschke said the employer failed to appreciate the position the young worker was put in:

“…he should not have been put in that position and would have been protected from the consequences of his decision to do so had the plant been properly guarded or had there been a clear safe operating procedure, or had he been appropriately instructed and trained.”

In total, the company was fined $6,160, comprising $5,600 for the unsafe workplace offence and $560 for failing to report a notifiable injury. Magistrate Lieschke discounted the penalty by 20% for the defendant’s early guilty plea and cooperation.

This incident again highlights the need for employers to be especially mindful of the vulnerability of young workers, as well as the legal obligations to protect their safety and guard machinery.

EQAS can assist in further development on OHS Management Systems to ensure the risk of workplace incidents is minimised.