A recent South Australian Employment Tribunal case saw a company convicted of a Category 2 offence in accordance with section 32 of the Work, Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA), for failing to comply with their health and safety duty to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while they were at the workplace.
The Tribunal heard that a young worker had suffered serious and traumatic injuries after her hair got caught in unguarded machinery when she was cleaning up fruit on a conveyor sorting line.
The business was not able to provide evidence the young worker had been trained how to avoid exposure to the risks of the conveyor, and simple and inexpensive measures to prevent such an injury occurring had not been taken.
The business was therefore sentenced to pay a fine of $120,000 for the breach of their health and safety duty, a $405.00 victims of crime levy and $2,163.00 for the victims’ costs.
The Tribunal noted it is an employer’s duty to take special care to train young workers about the particular risks they should consider and look out for in the workplace, as risk awareness is not necessarily innate.
Key Takeaway:
This case is an excellent reminder about the importance of investing in training all employees, young and old, to be safety conscious and equip them with the skills and knowledge to identify risks and dangers in their workplace.
