Saratoga Holdings Pty Ltd pleads guilty to workplace health and safety breaches

A world-leading macadamia enterprise with plantations across QLD, NSW and South Africa, has been convicted of multiple health and safety breaches which resulted in horrific injuries to some of its workers.

A world leader in macadamia production has been convicted by a Bundaberg court of three breaches of its health and safety duties and failing to ensure the regulator was notified of a notifiable incident.

Saratoga Holdings is considered to be the world’s largest macadamia grower, with plantations in Bundaberg, Childers, Moore Park, Mt Bauple, Emerald, New South Wales and South Africa.

Bundaberg Magistrates Court heard on Thursday a complaint was made by the Workplace Health & Safety prosecutor on November 3, 2021 that between 22 July 2018 and August 27, 2018, Saratoga Holdings failed to ensure the health and safety of its workers, and that it exposed an individual to a risk of death or serious injury.

On August 3 2018, a Saratoga worker trapped the finger of his left hand between the disc of a woodchipper containing cutting blades and metal casing while trying to slow down the rotation of the disc in the chipper.

He suffered lacerations to his left and middle index finger, including cuts to his tendons.

Workplace Health and Safety concluded that Saratoga Holdings failed to see and assess the risks arising from the woodchipper.

On August 27, 2018, another worker at Gordon’s Farm, Alloway, lost half his arm when the ATV he was operating collided with large metal blades on the skirter of a tractor.

Workplace Health and Safety investigated the incident and concluded that Saratoga Holdings failed to adequately manage the risks arsing from the use of the skirter and to communicate that risks to workers.

The third health and safety beach involved the woodchipper, which was used between July 22 and August 27, 2018.

A supervisor was overseeing other workers putting macadamia branches through the woodchipper at Gordon’s Farm, and spreading the woodchip under the macadamia trees.

The workers were asked to pick up the branches and feed them into the chipper as it was pushed slowly towards them, court documents reveal. If there were too many logs being processed at one time, workers had to run around the side of the tractor and tell the supervisor to stop the tractor until they cleared the area.

Workplace Health and Safety investigated the issue, concluding that a woodchipper moving while in operation posed the risk of workers being crushed in its mechanism or being run over by the chipper or tractor, possibly causing serious injury or death.

Saratoga Holdings also failed to ensure the regulator was notified of a notifiable incident.

Company CEO Peter Zadro pleaded guilty to all four charges and will be sentenced by Bundaberg Magistrates Court on December 15, 2021.