Fiorelli Packing Co 2 provides services sourcing, transporting, storing and supplying potatoes across Australia and around the world. They are a part of the Fiorelli Group which has grown from their 1958 beginnings as a small potato supply business to become Victoria’s largest privately owned potato storage and supply chain business.
In late December 2025 Fiorelli Packing Co 2 was fined $95,000 for their failure to maintain a safe system of work, including appropriate machine guarding, which led to an employee suffering an amputation of their right leg a few inches below the knee.
The incident occurred in September 2022 when the employee was instructed by their supervisor to climb onto an in-operation sweet potato cutting machine and to use a broom stick to regulate the flow of potatoes out of the machine. The employee was also instructed to place their foot behind the conveyor belt on a ledge behind where blades were turning to cut the potatoes. There was no machine guarding in place to protect the employee, so when their right foot slipped it became caught in the blades, resulting in the amputation.
Understandably, the injury has had an extremely significant physical, psychological and financial impact on the employee.
Machine guarding is a basic OHS requirement which should be obvious to any employer operating any plant or machinery that could pinch, cut, crush, sever or entangle a body part. WorkSafe have free and easily obtainable guides for employers to help them reduce the risks associated with plant and machinery. The following WorkSafe information is available for employers to follow, along with more information for specific equipment –
- A handbook for workplaces: Machinery and equipment safety - an introduction | WorkSafe Victoria
- Plant hazard checklist | WorkSafe Victoria
- Safe isolation of machinery: pocket checklist | WorkSafe Victoria
- Controlling entanglement risks | WorkSafe Victoria
You can also find information and further links on our Machine Guarding - OHS Reps page.
Nine years before this employee’s leg amputation Fiorelli Packing Co 2 had been convicted for failing to adequately guard a conveyor belt – a failure that resulted in a truck driver sustaining an above the elbow amputation of their arm.
Fiorelli Group’s website indicates that they are aware of the importance of safety, with a statement of their commitment to safety – “Safety is not just a priority; it’s a core value that guides everything we do. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of safety to protect our people, our partners, and our communities.”
Given the prolific information available to alert employers to these types of hazards and provide guidance on how to control the risks as well as their previous conviction, it is appalling that such a well-resourced company has failed to ensure the safety of employees when working with the obvious risks of dangerous machinery.
The maximum applicable penalty for the company at the time of their breach of s.21 of the OHS Act was $1.66 million. In accordance with 6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, the Judge in this case indicated that but for Fiorelli Packing Co 2’s plea of guilty, they would have imposed a fine of $130,000.
Read more: Prosecution Result Summaries and Enforceable Undertakings | WorkSafe Victoria