Pacific Salt Pty Ltd convicted, fined $75,000 over workplace accident in which worker’s arm was dragged into industrial salt press
An 18-year-old woman has permanent damage after being dragged into an industrial salt press and trapped because there was no emergency stop. Warning: Graphic image
SA News
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A young woman was left with permanent scars and tendon damage after her arm was dragged into the rollers of a rock salt processor, trapping her in agonising pain for several minutes.
Courtney Herbert was 18 years old when she tried to brush excess salt from a conveyor belt at the Pacific Salt factory in Whyalla on April 17, 2020.
In a judgment published by the South Australian Employment Tribunal, deputy president Magistrate Stuart Cole found the accident could have been easily avoided.
The rollers of the machine caught Ms Herbert’s shirt and her right arm was dragged into the conveyor.
Mr Cole said there were no safety rails in place, nor an emergency stop button.
The rollers kept turning until a co-worker turned them off after hearing Ms Herbert’s screams.
A worker needed to use a spanner to release the tension on the roller before Ms Herbert could be released and taken to hospital.
“(She) was driven to hospital for initial surgical treatment of two large degloving injuries to her right elbow, second- to third-degree friction burns, and a partial-thickness laceration of the distal triceps at the attachment into her right elbow,” Mr Cole said.
Ms Herbert told The Advertiser that she still had pain from the injury.
“There is still a big scar and tendon damage, it is still hard to use my arm,” she said.
Ms Herbert tried to return to work but said she did not feel supported and eventually left the job.
Pacific Salt spent more than $300,000 overhauling their safety devices and procedure in the aftermath of the accident.
Mr Cole said Pacific Salt, which harvests and processes sea salt, had co-operated with SafeWork SA during their investigation and pleaded guilty to breaching the Work Health and Safety Act at the earliest opportunity.
However, counsel for the company asked for the business to be spared a conviction.
They argued this was an unusual case for a company which was “contrite and chastened” and also had a good “corporate character” – including supporting a local football team.
Mr Cole rejected that argument and convicted the company, noting that the accident had been a “serious regulatory breach” and the normal approach was to impose a conviction.
He also fined the company $75,000 as well as ordering them to pay other costs and penalties.
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