If you’ve been having a well-earned break from media, here is a quick update of news from WorkSafe Victoria over the holiday season.
- Disability services provider Amicus was convicted and fined $370,000 for failure to provide a safe system of work, workplace bullying and harassment, and a failure to notify the Victorian WorkCover Authority of a notifiable event, following the death of a client.
In May 2021 an Amicus carer was assigned to conduct overnight monitoring of a client with multiple disabilities, including seizures while sleeping. During the night the client suffered a seizure and fell from their bed onto a crash mat which triggered an alarm to alert staff. No-one responded to the alarm until seven hours later, by which time it was too late to save the client’s life.
Amicus failed to ensure staff conducted regular checks and failed to provide staff with information, instruction and training on how to complete these checks, and requiring workers to sign-off on monitoring requirements before their first unsupervised active overnight shift.
WorkSafe Acting Chief Health and Safety Officer Barb Hill reminded employers that occupational health and safety applies to everyone in the workplace.
Read more: Disability provider fined after client death | WorkSafe Victoria
- A recycling company has had its fines increased by more than seven times to a total of $260,000 after six workers were injured in an aerosol gas explosion at its Shepparton plant.
In April last year SafetyNet reported on Rose & Co Pty Ltd being fined $35,000 after the blast. Following an appeal, the Melbourne County Court on Thursday 11 December set aside the original sentence, convicting the company and ordering it to pay $220,000 for failing to provide a safe system of work and $40,000 for breaching Dangerous Goods Regulations by failing to instruct workers on the nature, hazards and properties of dangerous goods at the workplace.
Read more: Fine over recycling explosion increased by $225,000 on appeal | WorkSafe Victoria
- Both a labour hire provider and a potato and onion wholesaler have been fined a total of $65,000 after a worker’s hand was seriously injured in a machine at a Mirboo North farm.
In June 2023, labour hire provider MJ Dijamco sent a worker to host employer Cummaudo’s farm, where she was tasked with removing onion stems using an onion grader machine. During her first shift at the farm, the worker approached the upper section of the onion grader to dislodge two onions, believing her coworker had shut down the machine.
As she reached inside, the worker’s hand became entangled in the machine’s rotating rollers. Hearing her screams, the coworker pressed the emergency stop button. The worker was transported to hospital where she had multiple fingers on her right hand amputated.
WorkSafe’s investigation found that there was no guarding around the machinery and that neither company had provided the worker with an induction or any training.
Read more: Companies fined after worker loses fingers | WorkSafe Victoria