Australia | Fine over worker’s head crush nearly doubled on appeal

May 1, 2025

WorkSafe Victoria | An industrial plastics manufacturer has been fined $75,000 after a worker suffered life-threatening crush injuries when his head was caught in machinery.

 

In December 2024, Class Plastics (Aust) Pty Ltd was fined $40,000 without conviction in the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to maintain plant that was safe and without risks to health.

Following an appeal, the Melbourne County Court set aside the original sentence, instead convicting the company and imposing a $75,000 fine. The company was also ordered to pay $4,000 in costs.

In April 2022, a supervisor at the company’s Truganina factory was attempting to rectify an issue with a plastic blow moulding machine when his head was caught between a moving bar and the machine’s frame.

The man suffered a traumatic brain injury, fractured skull and intracranial bleeding which required immediate surgery.

A WorkSafe investigation found the machine’s interlock system, which should have stopped it operating while the access doors were open, was disconnected, and the sensors which should have activated it had been covered with tape.

It was reasonably practicable for the company to have conducted regular inspections of the interlock system and checked that sensors and other safety devices on the machine weren’t compromised.

— Accurate at time of publication | April 2025

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