Worker’s ‘gruesome’ hand injury results in $50k fine for company

A manufacturing company that repairs cryogenic equipment has copped a $50,000 fine after a worker suffered a serious hand injury at a Dandenong South factory.

Manufacturing company Cryoquip was recently sentenced after pleading guilty to two charges of failing to provide a safe workplace in the Dandenong Magistrates Court.

Back in June 2022, a worker at the company was operating a machine designed to create 90-degree bends in pipes. This required the operator to manually hold a pipe in place as the bending process began.

While holding the pipe in place with one hand for the bending, the worker pressed the activation button with the other, which caused the first vice machine to clamp down on the second pipe. However, before the worker could remove her hand, the second vice clamped down, subsequently trapping the worker’s two fingers.

Instead of pressing the emergency stop button – due to the fear that pausing the machine immediately wouldn’t release the vice grip – the worker opted to let the bending cycle complete until the vice released automatically. As a result, the worker’s hand was seriously injured, and she was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.

The WorkSafe investigation found that the company had no formal training procedure for the machine. It was found that the manager who trained the injured worker on the machine had not himself been formally trained and was operating the machine purely by trial and error.

According to WorkSafe, Cryoquip admitted it was reasonably practicable to have reduced the risk of injury by:

• Fitting an interlock between the first clamp and the pressure clamp that would force the worker to remove their hand before the machine’s second clamp could close, and not allow the bending process to continue unless the worker’s hands were clear.

• Programming the machine to have a time delay of four or more seconds between the two clamps.

• Ensuring the emergency stop button would release the clamp if pressed.

• Fitting a guard that would prevent bodily access to the machine’s danger zone.

“No worker should have to go through something so gruesome, and on top of that be unsure of what they are supposed to do in an emergency,” said WorkSafe executive director of health and safety Sam Jenkin, who highlighted how imperative accurate training and safety controls are.

Overall, the investigation found that it was also “reasonably practicable for the company to have provided a safe system of work that included a risk assessment of the machine and to have ensured employees were provided with information, instruction and training on how to operate the machine, including information about how to change the machine’s time delay settings”.

“There is no room for laxity when it comes to working with high-risk equipment, and WorkSafe will continue to take action against employers who fail to ensure they are providing safe machinery and proper training to their workers,” said Jenkin.

In total, Cryoquip was fined $30,000 for failing to provide a safe system of work for their employees and $20,000 for failing to provide and maintain a safe plant. On top of that, it was also ordered to pay $4,000 in costs.

Kace O'Neill

Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.