A HAY processing company from Western Australia's wheatbelt has been ordered to pay over $600,000 in fines and costs over a serious injury to a worker. 

HA Hold Co (trading as Hay Australia) was fined in the Northam Magistrates Court last month, after pleading guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace, resulting in serious harm to a worker. The leading hand was injured in January 2023, while working under a labour hire arrangement at the hay processing plant near Yerecoin in WA. 

According to WorkSafe, the worker was operating a small hay press when some of the bales became twisted in the front chamber. When he climbed through an unguarded area onto the press' conveyor belt to rearrange the bales he was pushed by the mechanical arm that drives the hay bales into the cutting chamber. His leg became trapped in the chamber, resulting in a fractured leg and a de-gloving injury.

WorkSafe said the conveyor belt did have interlocked gates on the opposite side of where the incident occurred, and opening these gates stopped the conveyor belt. However, workers had previously accessed the conveyor belt while it was moving by reaching over it and pushing the twisted hay bales. This was faster and more convenient than walking around to the other side of the conveyor to the interlocked gates.

"In 2022, an external safety consultant engaged by the company had warned about the risk posed by the unguarded area of the conveyor belt, but the company did not install guarding there at that time," WorkSafe said. 

"The company did not have a documented safe work procedure for addressing blockages on the conveyor belt. After the incident, a mesh guard was fitted to the unguarded area." 

WorkSafe commissioner, Sally North, said the case was a further warning to employers to ensure there were safe work procedures in place around the moving parts of machinery.

"It's disappointing that we continue to see incidents involving insufficient guarding of machinery, particularly conveyor belts," North said.

"This case should serve as a reminder that a thorough risk assessment should be undertaken in all areas of a workplace, and engineering controls such as guarding as well as safe work procedures put into place to reduce or eliminate any risks present.

"Along with putting these controls in place, I urge employers to ensure that all workers are aware of machinery related risks and how to do their work safely.

"In this case, the employer had been made aware of the missing conveyor belt guards but had not taken action to remedy the problem.

"Guarding needs to be designed to reduce not only the risks during standard operation of the machinery but also risks that may arise when a worker makes an error."

Just weeks earlier Hay Australia Victoria was convicted and fined $400,000 after a worker was crushed and killed by a multibaler. In that incident a 29 year old worker was crushed between moving and stationary components of the equipment in February 2021 while working on the main line at the company's factory. He suffered serious head and chest injuries and died at the scene.

More information on Guarding can be found on the WorkSafe WA website: worksafe.wa.gov.au/guarding.