A recycling company has been fined $47,000 after failing to adequately guard dangerous areas of processing machinery and then failing to comply with an improvement notice issued by WorkSafe Victoria.
Urban Mining Industries, which operated a food-waste recycling facility in Dandenong South, was prosecuted over guarding deficiencies involving its Bread Processing Plant. The plant uses complex machinery to process packaged food waste for recycling into animal feed.
WorkSafe inspectors had previously put the company on notice about its obligation to provide adequate guarding around dangerous areas, including an auger and an Ultramill Infeed Conveyor.
During an inspection in February 2024, inspectors again found that workers could gain whole-body or physical access to the dangerous areas. The fencing separating workers from the machinery was open at several points, too low and could be removed while the plant was operating because it was not fitted with adequate interlocking. Nuts and bolts securing some fence panels had also been removed, while other sections had been damaged by food waste and other material stored against the fencing.
Workers could access the dangerous areas to undertake cleaning and maintenance, while the damaged and unsecured fencing left parts of the plant unprotected.
WorkSafe issued an improvement notice requiring the guarding issues to be addressed by April 2024. However, follow-up inspections in May 2024 found that the notice had not been complied with. Although some improvements had been made, the guarding and interlocking arrangements remained inadequate. The notice was not able to be lifted until June 2024, when inspectors determined that full compliance had been achieved.
The company was charged with two breaches of s.21(1) of the OHS Act and r.99(2) of the OHS Regulations relating to the failure to provide and maintain a safe working environment. It was also charged with failing to comply with the improvement notice under s.111(4) of the Act.
The prosecution continued after the Federal Court ordered Urban Mining Industries into liquidation, with WorkSafe obtaining leave to proceed. The liquidator did not participate in the hearing, and the matter was determined ex parte, meaning the company was not represented at the hearing and did not enter a plea.
The company was found guilty and, without conviction, fined $30,000 on the guarding charges and $17,000 for failing to comply with the improvement notice.
The Court considered the offending objectively serious, noting that the absence of an injury was immaterial because the safety offences were risk-based. The potential consequences for employees were considered grave, and both adequate guarding and compliance with the improvement notice were within the company's capacity.
HSRs can find information about plant guarding at our OHS Reps Plant and Machine Guarding pages. Employers can learn more about their duties relating to plant and machinery at WorkSafe’s Compliance Code: Plant.
In February 2025 the Sentencing Advisory Council released a report to the Victorian Government making 12 recommendations for reform regarding the sentencing of OHS offences in Victoria. This included significantly increasing maximum penalties for breaching OHS duties in line with community expectations. The Victorian Government is yet to provide a response to this report.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria