Polycell Australia Pty Ltd manufactures protective packaging materials, including bubble wrap, bio-fill and padded envelopes. In March 2023 WorkSafe received a call from the partner of an injured employee notifying the regulator of a serious workplace incident at Polycell.
On the 27 February 2023 the employee was operating a machine that makes sealable bubble wrap envelopes. Whilst attempting to fix a jam the employee’s hand was pulled into a roller mechanism resulting in the amputation of her right index finger, requiring her to undergo four surgeries.
When WorkSafe attended the site on 8 March 2023 they found that there was no guarding on in-running pinch points, that contrary to ‘lock out, tag out’ standards the power was not lockable in the ‘off’ position, and there was no documented safe system of work for fixing a jam in the machinery. Polycell had previously received Improvement Notices from WorkSafe relating to the lack of guarding on other machines in their business.
During the WorkSafe site visit, ten days after the incident, Polycell management reported the incident to the WorkSafe Advisory service. Section 38 of the OHS Act requires employers to notify the Authority of serious workplace incidents immediately after becoming aware of their occurrence. The maximum penalty at the time of the incident for failure to report a notifiable incident was approximately $221,000 - and for failure to provide a safe system of work a maximum penalty of approximately $1.66M.
Polycell is a mid-sized company operating across several states and has adequate resources to understand and enact their OHS duties and obligations to provide a safe working environment for their employees. They had previously been convicted and fined $100,000 in 2012 after an employee fell from a timber pallet positioned on the elevated tines of a forklift.
For their failure to provide a safe system of work and plant that caused an employee to lose her finger, and for their failure to notify WorkSafe of a notifiable incident, the Courts sentenced Polycell, with conviction, to a fine of $80,000.
Read more: Manufacturer fined $80,000 after worker loses finger | WorkSafe Victoria