Food manufacturer fined for fall and mobile plant risks

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

By Mark Felton

As a business owner and employer, it is your responsibility to ensure the health safety of your employees within your workplace. This includes providing your team with a safe work environment and protection from hazards. You can achieve this by understanding your obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) laws and by complying with them. WorkCover Victoria will investigate instances where an employer is not meeting their obligations, and will prosecute and fine that employer, regardless of whether or not an injury has occurred.

WorkCover Victoria reported that a food manufacturer in Bairnsdale was convicted and fined $32,500 in March after workers' lives were endangered working from height without fall protection.

Vegco Pty Ltd was sentenced in the Bairnsdale Magistrates' Court after earlier pleading guilty to one charge of failing to provide safe systems of work, and another charge of failing to provide information, instruction and training to employees to perform their work safely. The company was also ordered to pay costs of $2,467.

The Court heard that in October 2020, two workers were investigating a chemical smell coming from a sloping roof at the factory. The pair used a scissor lift to access the roof, which was about 6-8 metres high and wet from overnight rain.

During this process, a WorkSafe inspector visited the site as part of a routine inspection and observed the men working without harnesses or other fall protection in place. The inspector also found that although the scissor lift was operating in a shared zone with pedestrians, vehicles and other mobile plant, it had no impact protection, and the two workers were not trained, instructed or aware of the company’s traffic management plan for mobile plant.

The Court heard that it was reasonably practicable for Vegco to have provided and maintained safe systems of work both for working at heights and the use of mobile plant at the workplace. It was established that the company should also have provided information, instruction and training to workers in relation to the traffic management plan, working at heights and the use of elevated work platforms.

WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Narelle Beer said although no one was harmed in this instance, the company's offending was still serious, with falls from height and incidents involving mobile plant among the leading causes of workplace deaths and injuries. "Since 2018, 39 workers have fallen to their deaths. Each could have been prevented if safety measures, such as a passive fall prevention device, were in place," Dr Beer said. "It's a reminder to all employers that WorkSafe won't hesitate to prosecute if they fail to do everything they can to eliminate or reduce risks to health and safety."

As a business owner, do you have an understanding of your responsibility to ensure the safety of your employees? Are you confident that you can provide a safe work environment and comply with OHS laws? Do you believe that you are effective in carrying out risk assessment, employee consultation and providing training? Do you regularly review these measures to ensure that they remain fit for purpose and keep you and your employees healthy and safe? We assist business owners clarify what they currently have in place, as well as where there are shortfalls. We then assist in developing effective systems and documentation, working with businesses to ensure effective implementation. Checks are put in place to monitor ongoing effectiveness, to ensure that going forward, they are sound and comply with the Act, and most importantly keep you and your employees informed, and healthy and safe. Please feel free to contact me, Mark Felton, at Beaumont Advisory on 0411 951 372 or mfelton@beaumontlawyers. com.au for an obligation and cost-free initial discussion.

Mark Felton