A SafeWork SA investigation found that Nippy’s Waikerie Producers Pty Ltd breached their work health and safety duties and failed to provide a safe work environment for their workers.

The case was finalised in the South Australian Employment Tribunal on 6 July 2023 following an early guilty plea.

In November 2020, an 18-year-old young worker employed at Nippy’s fruit processing plant suffered serious and traumatic injuries while cleaning up fruit on a conveyor sorting line.

Employees at this workplace had been instructed to enter the conveyor area several times during their shift to clear blockages and clean up fruit that had fallen from the conveyor, as part of their duties.

The conveyor was not turned off when the young worker reached into this part of the conveyor line and their hair was pulled into the unguarded sprocket and drive-chain mechanism.

Workers were exposed to dangerous moving parts of the conveyor and there was no evidence Nippy’s had trained the young worker, who was in their first full-time job since leaving school.

Deputy President Magistrate Eaton noted that Nippy’s had previously identified the risk of hair being caught in unguarded moving parts in 2013, but failed to install guards on the section of plant involved in this incident.

Moreover, the risk of workers’ hands and hair being caught in unguarded moving parts on Nippy’s fruit sorting lines was well known and documented at the time of the incident.

The failure to implement the simple and inexpensive engineering measures of a guard on the sprocket and chain and a restraint to prevent access while the conveyor was operating is objectively serious,’ Deputy President Magistrate Eaton stated.

SafeWork SA reminds businesses that inadequate or unguarded plant and machinery is a common cause of serious injury and death and failure to appropriately identify and control exposure to moving parts, carries strict penalties.

Deputy President Magistrate Eaton agreed that ‘young people entering the workforce need training not only in how to work safely, but how to work with a safety consciousness that will equip them to identify the risks and dangers which might arise in the course of their work and give them the confidence to raise any concerns with their supervisors.’

Nippy’s Waikerie Producers Pty Ltd was convicted with an initial fine of $200,000, reduced to $120,000 following a 40 per cent discount for early guilty plea.

Further payments of $2,163 for informant’s costs and a victims of crime levy in the sum of $405 were also ordered.

SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell said employers have no excuse for failing to adequately protect their workers from harm, particularly when employing young, inexperienced people to work with plant and machinery.

‘A safe work environment requires a conscious commitment to health and safety, and an effective risk management approach with high order controls.

‘Incidents like this should not be happening and businesses must prioritise the health and safety of their workers,’ said Mr Farrell.