Pet Treat Manufacturer Fined for Multiple Breaches

Australian Pet Essentials Pty Ltd (“the defendant”) manufactures pet food treats. They have 3 full time employees and 3 part time employees.

Incident 1 - On 10 July 2014 an employee of the defendant was operating a ‘co-extrusion’ machine which was used to process product into dog treats. Product was fed into the machine via a hopper and then dropped through a chute to be processed by a single screw auger. The chute provided some guarding but did not prevent access to the danger point of the machine, namely the auger. There was a risk of serious injury as during the process of operation, an employee could access areas of danger. During the ‘co-extrusion’ process, product started to build up in the chute and block it. The employee put a spanner into the chute to clear the blockage. The spanner got caught and the employee reached his hand into the chute to retrieve the spanner. His middle left finger was caught on the auger and he suffered a partial amputation of his finger. The defendant failed to notify WorkSafe of the incident.

Incident 2 – On 16 October 2014, an employee of the defendant was working on the conveyor of a strap slicing machine. The machine had a guard over the cutting area which was able to be removed without the use of a tool. There was a risk of serious injury as during the process of operation, an employee could access areas of danger including, but not limited to, the cutting blade. The employee reached into the machine to untangle and remove straps from the machine. As she was doing this, the cutter blade came down and cut the tip of her left middle finger including part of her fingernail. The defendant pleaded guilty and was convicted and sentenced to pay an aggregate fine of $15,000 and costs of $2,218. (Geelong Magistrates’ Court)

Fine: $15,000.00

Costs: $2,218.00

Published: 23/10/2015

Category: Failure to notify VWA of a notifiable incident; Failure to preserve incident site; Guarding; Unguarded plant

Source: WorkSafe Victoria