Laucke Mills fined $390,000 for industrial death of Jack Hallett at Daveyston

A safety hazard in an industrial feed press which led to the death of a beloved father had gone unidentified for years before the tragic accident, a tribunal has concluded.

An animal feed company where a worker was crushed to death in an industrial accident has been convicted and fined almost $400,000.

Jack Daniel Hallett was working at the Laucke Mills in Daveyston on October 11, 2020.

He was tasked with working at a feed pellet press which occasionally required internal cleaning.

The access to the internal workings of the machine was covered only by a hatch which could be opened without tools.

A worker would use a 2.8m long scraper to clear debris and pellets from the internal workings of the machine.

The operator would stop the machine while another worker would use the scraper.

Jack Hallett who died in an industrial accident in October 2020. Picture: Facebook.

In a judgment handed down last week but only published on Wednesday, South Australian Employment Tribunal deputy president Judge Miles Crawley said Mr Hallett fell through the hatch and was crushed by a hydraulic door.

He died at the scene.

Despite previous risk assessments of the 30-year-old machine, the particular risk which led to Mr Hallett suffering fatal injuries had never been identified.

A victim impact statement read to the court and cited in the judgment said his family had never had the chance to say goodbye to the beloved father.

“I feel immense guilt living this life without him,” Mr Hallett’s partner said.

“I don’t want the future because any future without Jack is not a happy one.”

The Tribunal heard Laucke Mills had spent more than $150,000 remedying safety issues at the site.

Laucke Mills entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity – acknowledging that the hazard had been missed.

Judge Crawley indicated he would have imposed a fine of $650,000 which he reduced by 40 per cent for the company’s early guilty plea to $390,000.

With additional costs and levies the final penalty was almost $395,000.

Judge Crawley said he could not order compensation to the family but intimated that they could bring a civil action against the company.