A fatality at a Lethbridge poultry rearing farm has resulted in a fine of just $325,000 for Lemitech Pty Ltd. Although Lemitech had management and control of the workplace, they did not employ any person on the date of the fatal incident in March 2023.
The shed at which the fatality occurred was refurbished in 2022, including the installation of a conveyor system by an external, overseas company. The conveyor system is operated by an electric motor and consists of six manure belts running the length of the shed and a seventh belt running horizontal to the manure belts. The six manure belts catch the manure as it drops from the chicken cages and tip it onto the horizontal belt, which then runs outside the shed to an elevator from which the manure is dropped into the back of a truck.
The tail pulley for the horizontal belt is located outside the shed, on the opposite side of the shed from the elevator. The manure belts do not operate continuously, as they can accommodate three to four days of manure. Each Tuesday and Friday a truck would travel to the workplace to collect manure, a process referred to as a ‘manure run’.
To stop the conveyor from moving there are three isolator switches located outside of the shed, with two further switches located inside the shed. There are no isolator switches on the side of the shed where the tail pulley is located, and on the day of the incident there were also no emergency stop buttons near the tail pulley of the conveyor system.
During a manure run, workers would check the tracking of the horizontal belt around four times, depending on how it was operating. Todo so the worker would remove a metal guard on the tail pulley to expose the rotating components of the tail pulley. The guard would need to be removed so they could see the belt running. The guard was not always fastened to the conveyor, sometimes it would just be ‘floated’ on top of it.
This checking of the belt also included adjusting the tracking of the horizontal belt on the conveyor system as one side would begin rubbing against the frame of the conveyor. With the belt still running a worker would use a spanner to adjust a nut on a continuous thread on either side of the belt, depending on whether they were tracking the belt left or right.
Workers also needed to perform maintenance works on the tail pulley from time to time, including replacing parts and cleaning manure that had become stuck in the horizontal belt. When one of the workers at the workplace performed such tasks, they would turn the conveyor system off. However, a person who was standing at the controls to turn the conveyor system on and off could not see if another person was performing maintenance works on the tail pulley.
In March 2023 34-year-old Liam Harrington advised that he was going to do the manure run at the workplace at around 9:00am. The horizontal belt was observed to be running at approximately 9.10am by the truck driver who had arrived at the workplace. At around 10.50am it was observed that the manure had stopped running into the truck, so the manure belts were turned off.
At around 11:45am it was observed that there was a lot of manure built up on the horizontal belt and some other workers went to find Mr Harrington, who had not been answering his phone. After a quick search, he was located entangled in the roller of the tail pulley of the horizontal belt. Mr Harrington had died from his injuries. He was a much-loved local and the Lethbridge sport-scene and wider community mourned the loss of their friend, neighbour and teammate.
Lemitech failed to manage the risk of entanglement in the rotating components of the tail pully. They had not installed a fixed interlocked guard with viewing windows to permit checking of the belt with the guard in place. They had not installed a maintenance jog function on the conveyor system, in which the horizontal belt operated at a slow speed and/or could only travel a short distance, for use when the guard on the tail pulley was removed. Nor had they installed interlocked in-running nip guards over the roller of the tail pulley.
The Court noted the inherent safety flaws in the system of work and the catastrophic outcome of the failure to control the hazards. Lemitech and its director enacted a swift response to remedy the risk, which demonstrated how easily and quickly the risk could have been controlled and the fatality prevented.
The hazards associated with conveyor belts are well known and include pinch points and rotating parts. WorkSafe recommends guarding, operator controls and appropriately located emergency stop devices. If access to a danger point or area is necessary during operation, maintenance or cleaning, the guarding must be an interlocked physical barrier. The barrier needs to only allow access at times when that point or area does not present a risk and prevent access at all other times. The Compliance Code: Plant guides employers on managing plant hazards including pinch points and rotating parts, and includes a hazard checklist and clear diagrams showing examples of hazards.
Read more: WorkSafe | Safety Alert: worker fatally injured in poultry farm conveyor