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Prosecution Details

Offender Evans & Tate Limited

Charges

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Charge Charge Number Offence Date Date Convicted Regulation Section Penalty Provision Penalty Imposed Date Sentenced
1 BS1591/07 10 November 2005 2nd May 2008 3A(2)(b)(i) $30,000.00 2nd May 2008
Description of Breach(es)

On 10 November 2005, being an employer, did not so far as was practicable, provide and maintain a working environment in which its employees were not exposed to hazards and by that failure contravened sections 19(1) and 19A(3) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

Background Details

At all relevant times the material facts were as set out below.

The accused operated a wine making and winery management business. The accused's employees included the injured person who worked for it as a vineyard hand. Her work included using a tractor which pulled a grass slasher which was made by Chris Gower and was model number 828 to cut grass at the vineyard.

She was an experienced vineyard worker, and at the date of the offence had about 8 years experience using tractors and slasher.

On 10 November 2005 she was using the slasher to cut long grass at Karridale Vineyard when grass built up in it. She got off the tractor, walked to the slasher and began to remove the grass from it. When the slasher was being used grass had to be cleared from it four or five times per day.

The right lower leg of her pants became tangled in the power take off coupling and pulled her right foot into it.

The hazard presented by unguarded power input couplings and the need to guard them is well known in the winery and winery management industry. The chance of the hazard arising is high.

The following publications highlight the need for power take off couplings to be guarded to remove the hazard of entanglement: WorkSafe Farm Safety Fact Sheet No 1: Tractor Safety; WorkSafe Wine Industry Fact Sheet: Machinery Hazards; Western Australian Wine Industry Occupational Health and Safety Code of Practice 2002; WorkSafe Significant Incident Summary 52/1999; WorkSafe Safetyline Institute Lecture: Safe use of Tractors. This material refers to the likely injuries as amputations, severe head injuries and fatalities.

The accused subsequently arranged for a guard to be manufactured and fitted over the power input coupling of the slasher. It cost about $420.75 for the guard to be manufactured and fitted by a business in Busselton.




Outcome Summary

Plead Guilty

Court Magistrates Court of Western Australia - Perth
Costs $930.35

Search the records of all successful prosecutions taken by WorkSafe under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 and Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996 since 1st January 2005. Searching and indexing of this database is limited to convictions for offences against the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984 and Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 1996 committed on or after 1 January 2005, when the statutory offence and penalty regimes were significantly amended.

Offences committed prior to 1 January 2005, while of limited comparative relevance, can be accessed via the following link.