Dromana Estate winery: Cathy Lin fined after WorkSafe investigation
An award-winning Mornington Peninsula winery has learned a sobering lesson following the discovery of a serious OH&S breach.
South East
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An award-winning Mornington Peninsula winery has been fined over a safety breach linked to its vineyard’s quad bike.
Weeping Elm Wines was fined $7000 in the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Monday after pleading guilty to failing to fit the bike with a protection device and failing to provide its rider with a helmet.
The court heard the safety breach was uncovered during a check conducted by WorkSafe at the Tuerong winery in February 2018.
The court was told the bike’s sole operator, winemaker Peter Bauer, was exposed to the risk of the bike rolling as it was not fitted with a protection device such as a roll bar.
Mr Bauer told investigators he had “never” worn a helmet, with the bike only being used for 40 hours a year to collect grape samples.
No particular incident led to the investigation and the company complied with its safety notice after it was issued, a WorkSafe spokeswoman told the court.
Winery director Cathy Lin said she was not aware the business owned a quad bike and only became aware of it when she was notified of legal proceedings.
Mr Vernier said the family owned winery, which helped establish the Mornington Peninsula as one of the country’s leading wine regions when it opened in 1982, “suffered greatly” due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Lin and her husband had been left suffering from stress as a result of the incident, the court heard.
“The company will not breach (safety laws) again and does not own a quad bike (anymore),” Mr Vernier said.
Magistrate Julian Ayres said there had been a risk of serious injury but noted the company acted promptly to address the notice.
“It’s clear the risks in relation to quad bike accidents are very well known … fatalities are well known particularly when roll bars aren’t attached let alone no (use of) helmets,” Mr Ayres said.
Weeping Elm Wines was fined $7000 without conviction and was ordered to pay a further $4000 in legal fees.