In May 2023 Rubberworx Pty Ltd was engaged to manufacture and install rubber safety surfacing at the North Melbourne Primary School, using an item of plant known as the ‘Rotatub 60’ wet-pour mixer. The mixer is barrel-shaped with a blade inside that rotates and scrapes the bottom of the barrel to mix glue and rubber into a wet-pour mixture that is laid as rubber surfacing.
The mixed components are dispensed via a trapdoor at the bottom of the barrel, into wheelbarrows. When the mixer is energised and the trapdoor is open, a danger zone is created where an employee can access the rotating blades, creating a risk of serious injury, including amputation. The mixer has a trapdoor guard to prevent access to the danger zone.
On the day of the incident the guarding was not in place. An employee had to force the trapdoor open because it was jammed with the previous day’s rubber. With his right hand on the handle, his left hand inadvertently accessed the danger zone, and the top section of his thumb was severed by the spinning blade.
The injured employee was taken to hospital where he had surgery to re-attach the severed part of his thumb – he has been receiving treatment since the injury.
When WorkSafe attended the site, the guard was retrieved from Rubberworx’s factory in Sunshine and reinstalled on the mixer, which was a process that took less than five minutes. An improvement notice requiring the provision of information, instruction and training for the safe use of the mixer was also issued to Rubberworx.
Compliance with the improvement notice was achieved the next day, with Rubberworx having sourced a copy of the Rotatub-60 operator’s manual, developed a new SWMS requiring guards to be fitted, developing a daily pre-start checklist that included the requirement for guards to be in place, and creating an instructional video on the safe set-up and use of the mixer.
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