Woolston Printing: Charge for Daniel Knight's crush death dropped

A charge against a Tasmanian printing company where a worker was crushed to death by a compactor in 2014 has been dropped by WorkSafe Tasmania, five-and-a-half years after prosecution was commenced.

WorkSafe Tasmania has discontinued a charge against a Northern Midlands commercial printing company where a worker was crushed to death in 2014 when he was pulled into a compactor.

Daniel Thomas Knight, 43, was an employee of Boral Rd, Western Junction firm Woolston Printing Pty Ltd when he was crushed while raking paper offcuts on November 12, 2014.

In Launceston Magistrates Court on Monday, WorkSafe Tasmania discontinued its charge of breaching a health and safety duty Category 2 against the company.

Speaking via his lawyer, managing director Jim Woolston said he was pleased the matter had been finalised, eight-and-a-half years since Mr Knight’s death and five-and-a-half years since prosecution commenced.

Court documents filed previously stated that Mr Knight attempted to clear a paper blockage in a “paper trim compactor unit” that had continued to extract paper from the factory but had been “discontinued” in that it no longer performed a compacting function, the documents stated.

As Mr Knight attempted to use his rake to clear a blockage in the compactor, “he struck the left ram of the compactor which began to rise”.

“As the left ram of the compactor rose it lifted the worker off the ground and crushed his abdomen and chest against the already risen right arm, trapping his upper body in the compactor,” the documents stated.

Mr Knight subsequently died of his injuries at Launceston General Hospital.

EARLIER, JUNE 12, 2022: The case against a Tasmanian printing company where a worker was crushed to death in a compactor in 2014 will now not be heard until 2023, nearly nine years after the incident.

Western Junction commercial printing company Woolston Printing Pty Ltd was charged with breaching its health and safety duty over the November 2014 death of 43-year-old employee Daniel Thomas Knight, with the matter first coming before the court on January 4, 2017.

Since then, the hearing into the charge, breaching a health and safety duty, has been delayed numerous times, with Launceston Magistrate Sharon Cure told this week the hearing could now not happen until April next year.

This was due to the availability of Woolston’s defence lawyer Luke Taylor, the court was told.

Ms Cure, who has had the charge in her court for at least four years, said, “We’ll get there eventually.”

Woolston Printing at Western Junction. Picture: Google Street View

The court heard the hearing was expected to take up to five days, with up to nine expert witnesses to be called.

“Expert evidence” would form the crux of the prosecution case, the court heard.

Mr Knight died on November 12, 2014, at the company’s Boral Rd facility.

Court documents state Mr Knight was raking wastepaper on the ground outside the factory shed when the incident occurred.

Mr Knight attempted to clear a paper blockage in a “paper trim compactor unit” which had continued to extract paper from the factory but had been “discontinued” in that it no longer performed a compacting function, the documents state.

Daniel Knight's grave at Kings Meadows Cemetary. Picture: Find A Grave/ Pauline Hortle

As Mr Knight attempted to use his rake to clear a blockage in the discontinued compactor, “he struck the left ram of the compactor which began to rise”.

“As the left ram of the compactor rose it lifted the worker off the ground and crushed his abdomen and chest against the already risen right arm, trapping his upper body in the compactor,” the documents state.

Mr Knight subsequently died of his injuries at Launceston General Hospital.

Prosecutors allege Woolston breached its health and safety duty to Mr Knight by failing to isolate the compactor from electricity and air supply by turning off its supply, by failing to disconnect the electrical chord and air supply hose from the compactor, and by failing to place an out of service tag on both the cord and hose.

The hearing has been set down for April 24–28.

Originally published as Woolston Printing: Charge for Daniel Knight's crush death dropped