A WESTERN Australian meat processing facility is being prosecuted over the death of a worker in 2022.
Western Australian Meat Marketing Co-operative (WAMMCO) has been charged with failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing the death of a worker.
In December 2022, the process worker the Katanning operation suffered fatal injuries after becoming entrapped by the moving parts of machinery.
WorkSafe has commenced prosecution proceedings against WAMMCO, with the first mention to take place in the Katanning Magistrates Court on in early February next year. The maximum penalty for the offence is a fine of $3.5 million.
This incident was just one of 35 work-related fatalities in WA for 2022, with 27 lives lost last year. Nationwide, 195 people were killed in work-related incidents in 2022, with 200 killed last year and 139 as of 5 December, 2024.
Just last month a WA engineering company was also prosecuted over the death of a worker at its Bassendean workshop in 2019, which resulted in a $567,000 fine and $28,695 in costs.
