Prosecution Details

The Accused was the director of a body corporate guilty of an offence under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984, where that offence:
I. Occurred with the consent of the Accused; or
II. Was attributable to neglect on the part of the Accused.

GP Mackie and Co Pty Ltd is a company which runs 3 farms in New Norcia region of Western Australia being Mirridong, Mundina and Undernooka Farms.

The Directors of GP Mackie and Co Pty Ltd are Michael Robert MACKIE, Peter Gilbert MACKIE and Ross Douglas Roy FORRESTER.

As at 14 May 2012 GP Mackie and Co Pty Ltd employed three workers.
One of the workers states that he had worked at GP Mackie Pty Ltd for eight years and was employed as a mechanical fitter and carries out farm duties as well.

WORKPLACE
The incident occurred at Mirridong farm at 100 Glentromie Rd New Norcia (the workplace) in a part of the workplace called Campbells Hill Paddock.

The workplace is a cattle and hay farm where crops and grains are also grown.

Another company (a sister company) also operates at the same workplace, primarily producing hay for export markets. This company has the same directors as GP Mackie and Co Pty Ltd.

The workplace contains and uses various plant and machinery including tractors, tele-handlers, trucks, motorbikes, quad bikes, ploughs and Morris Air seeders which have augers attached.

PROCESS
Air seeders are used to dry seed different varieties of crops in paddocks.
Using the Morris 7180 air seeder involves attaching the auger off the side of the air seeder bin. The auger is then position such that the hopper end is on the ground and the other end facing up towards the bins.
The air seeder has 2 bins, usually 1 for seeds and 1 for fertilizer. The hose attached to the auger can be moved between the 2 bins to facilitate the filling of the 2 bins.

A truck is bought alongside the auger and delivers fertilizer or seeds into the hopper. The fertilizer or seeds then travel up the auger into the air seeder bin.

INCIDENT
On 14 May 2012 an accident occurred where employee who was the mechanical fitter suffered a partial amputation of 3 fingers on his left hand after placing his hand into the hopper of an operational auger attached to an air seeder in order to clear a blockage.

On the day of the accident Farm Manager started work on the Air Seeder and operated it for about 1 ½ hours before returning to the office for a meeting with Peter MACKIE.

The farm manager states that Peter MACKIE told him to get the mechanical fitter to take over from him.

The accident occurred while the mechanical fitter was auguring fertilizer up into the bin on the air seeder whilst working alone.

During the process the mechanical fitter states that he thought he saw a piece of rock in the hopper. He states that he "rather stupidly but instinctively reached for it (the rock) believing he was well out of reach of the flight from the auger".

There was no guard fitted to the auger hopper.

The mechanical fitter suffered partial amputations of the middle 3 fingers on his left hand and required surgery and rehabilitation.

HAZARD
Unguarded augers are a commonly known hazard in the farming industry.

At times the guard was intentionally removed from the auger due to difficulties with fertilizer clumping and not getting through the guard. This was done with the knowledge of Peter Mackie.

In addition, the accused's sister company had been previously been given 10 improvement notices by Worksafe inspectors between 2005 and 2009 for guarding issues. The sister company has the same Directors as the accused and operates from the same workplace.

Employees that were exposed to that hazard were at risk of suffering serious injuries such as loss of finger/s or permanent loss of use.

It was practicable for the Accused to have used a guard on the auger.

The Accused has since installed a guard on the auger which was made from scrap materials around the farm. There was little cost to the accused.

The Accused plead guilty and was convicted. The Magistrate fined the Accused $10,000. No order for costs.