WorkSafe has highlighted a Bayswater company’s “long history of flouting workplace safety laws” after its managing director was fined over workplace safety charges.
WorkSafe has highlighted a Bayswater company’s “long history of flouting workplace safety laws” after its managing director was fined over workplace safety charges.
Sam Mangione was fined $70,000 in Perth Magistrates Court yesterday after pleading guilty to failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment and, by that failure, causing serious harm to a labour hire worker.
The charges related to a 2016 incident at Bayswater company Resource Recovery Solutions, when a migrant worker had his arm amputated at the shoulder after it was caught in a waste sorting machine.
His job was to manually remove unsuitable items from conveyor belts and to clear blockages or jams in various machines.
A blockage had been cleared and the belts had been restarted when the worker reached in to remove a rock that was dragged into the crush point.
There was no guarding around the crush points of the belt, and there was no lockout tag out procedure followed to isolate the moving parts of the plant when removing blockages.
WorkSafe Commissioner Darren Kavanagh said today Resource Recovery Solutions had a questionable safety history and the court had found that the injury occurred due to Mr Mangione’s neglect.
“This company has a long history of flouting workplace safety laws,” Mr Kavanagh said.
“Another worker at the plant was killed in 2013 when an overloaded roof panel collapsed and crushed him.
“WorkSafe inspectors visited the workplace and found that numerous conveyor belts were not guarded.
“They were reassured that the plant was fully automated and workers were not present when the plant was running.
“Another worker suffered a broken arm in February 2015 when his arm was dragged into a moving conveyor belt, which again had no guarding.
“The court found it was practicable for the company to have implemented and enforced a system that combined an interlocking system that restricted access to the belt and a monitoring system to detect blockages of the belt.
“It was also found that workers at the company had not been provided with sufficient information on hazards, formal instruction and training or direct supervision by the supervisor or manager.
”Mr Mangione neglected to implement the changes required to make this workplace safe for workers, and he has been penalised accordingly today.”
Mr Mangione was originally charged with gross negligence in failing to provide and maintain a safe work environment – the most serious offence possible under the former Occupational Health & Safety Act.
His company was charged with the same offence, plus non-compliance with an improvement notice issued by WorkSafe that called for the installation of safety guards on the waste sorting machine.
The company was found guilty of those charges in the Magistrates Court in 2020 and fined $330,000 – the largest fine ever imposed under the OHS Act to that point in time – and ordered to pay costs of $234,000.
One year later, Supreme Court judge Jennifer Smith set aside both convictions.
Justice Smith said RRS needed to have actual knowledge that its actions, or lack thereof, was likely to cause death or serious harm.
This knowledge, she added, must relate to a specific contravention, which must be included in the prosecution’s “specified particulars of knowledge”.
Justice Smith said that, contrary to this principle, magistrate Lynette Dias made several findings that were not raised in the particulars of knowledge.
Justice Smith also found the improvement notice issued by WorkSafe was not valid because the WorkSafe inspector who issued the notice did not provide sufficient reasons.
She ordered that a retrial should not occur, instead finding the company guilty of lesser charges.
It was fined $230,000 on the lesser charges.
The state government’s new Workplace Health & Safety Act, which took effect earlier this year, put into effect a big increase in penalties.
