Fine for water corporation after worker’s hand mangled

By Monique Preston

May 3, 2023

Ruling: Goulburn Valley Water was fined $50,000 after a worker’s hand was mangled in a workplace accident. Photo by Getty Images

Goulburn Valley Water has been fined $50,000 after a worker’s hand was mangled in equipment at its Mooroopna North plant.

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The water corporation pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to a charge of failing to provide and maintain a safe working environment.

The charge comes after an employee’s hand was caught in machinery at the wastewater plant on October 15, 2021.

On that day the man was undertaking regular cleaning of a machine used to separate solid materials from waste water at the sewage treatment facility.

As the worker attempted to dislodge solid material from a part of the machine known as a screw press, the steel pipe he was using became suddenly entangled and twisted around the rotating screw.

This jammed the worker’s right hand into the moving metal fingers of a step screen located above the screw press, causing a partial amputation of his index finger and a de-gloving of his middle finger.

WorkSafe’s investigation found that when being cleaned, the machine was regularly placed in manual mode so it could continue to run when guarding on the danger area was removed.

The prosecution argued it was reasonably practicable for Goulburn Valley Water to have fitted an interlock device to prevent the machine running when the guarding was removed.

Goulburn Valley Water’s defence counsel admitted a guard was not in place on the equipment that should have been.

However, he told the court members of senior management were “shocked and disappointed” about what had occurred at Mooroopna North “because they thought they had a system in place” and since then had “put a lot of care and attention in to make sure it never happens again”.

The defence counsel said the incident was “on the lower end of the scale” of seriousness.

“If it had have been something that was pointed out, they would have fixed it,” he said.

“It stems from people putting all sorts of things in the sewerage system.”

As well as the $50,000 fine, magistrate Ian Watkins also ordered Goulburn Valley Water pay $3906 in costs.

WorkSafe health and safety director Narelle Beer said it was crucial for employers to act when risks associated with inspecting and cleaning machinery were identified.

“Just because a particular process has been used in the past without incident does not necessarily mean that it is without risks to the health and safety of workers,” Dr Beer said.

“There was simply no excuse for exposing this worker to serious injury, especially given this employer had already acted to reduce the same risk on similar machines at other treatment facilities.”

After the handing down of the finding, Goulburn Valley Water managing director Steve Capewell reaffirmed Goulburn Valley Water’s commitment to safety.

“We accept the outcome from today’s hearing and take full responsibility for the accident,” Dr Capewell said.

“The safety of our people is one of our highest priorities and we’re committed to working right across our business to put safety first in everything we do.

“We continue to invest heavily in safety guards and infrastructure upgrades at our site, safety leadership training for our staff, and improvement on our safety process reviews and management.”