Authentic Mexican Foods Pty Ltd (trading as El Cielo) manufactures Mexican food products at their Airport West facility. In November 2022 WorkSafe Victoria visited El Cielo after receiving a notification from Victoria Police that a worker had allegedly had a finger amputated at the workplace.
On arrival at the El Cielo the WorkSafe inspector found a corn milling machine which was partially disassembled for cleaning. The operating panel lights indicated that the machine was still powered. There were no visible indications, such as brackets or mounting holes, that no guard had been attached to the machine at any point, and it appeared that the emergency stop button had not been activated.
The machine was used to wash corn kernels which would then discharge into a trough which fed into an auger. The auger would move the kernels upward to discharge into the infeed trough of a corn milling machine which would mill the corn into flour.
CCTV footage showed that the employee had been accessing the machine at the discharge end of the auger, which allowed for access to the moving parts inside, including the auger. The employee’s finger came into contact with the moving auger, causing the amputation.
El Cielo management should have been aware that an unguarded piece of equipment of this type presented a risk. The company had a duty to ensure that equipment and systems of work were safe for employees. Leaving such a risk unguarded and relying on training employees not to put their hand into the machine was inadequate.
The fact that a similar incident had not occurred earlier was a matter of good luck and not good management.
The Magistrates Court fined Authentic Mexican foods $12,500 without conviction. El Cielo is now in liquidation.
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