A Dandenong South manufacturer has been fined $50,000 after a worker’s hand was seriously injured in a pipe-bending machine.
Cryoquip Pty Ltd, which makes cryogenic gas storage and equipment, pleaded guilty to work safety offences at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 10 December.
In June 2022, the injured worker was using the machine to bend lengths of pipe to 90 degrees.
She held a pipe in place in the vice in her right hand as she pressed a button to activate the machine with her other hand.
The first vice clamped before she could remove her hand, trapping two fingers between the second vice and the pipe.
The worker didn’t press the emergency stop button, believing that it would not release the vice.
She allowed the bending process to complete its cycle and the clamp to open and release her hand.
Six months into the job, the worker previously worked in office administration and had no previous experience operating plant and machinery.
She was taken to hospital by ambulance.
Three months prior, another worker’s fingers were caught in the bending machine.
WorkSafe argued that Cryoquip failed to take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of serious injury.
These included failing to conduct a risk assessment of the pipe bending machine and implement controls, to provide adequate training and to provide a fixed guard between the machine and arm.
The court noted that Cryoquip had no priors and was a good corporate citizen that employed young apprentices.
On top of the fine, the firm was ordered to pay $4000 legal costs to WorkSafe.
