Wye River cafe avoids prosecution after grill-fire accident

A cafe in a seaside hamlet on the Great Ocean Road has avoided prosecution after a worker was set on fire after using the wrong bottle to clean a grill.

Wye River General Store in 2021.

A cafe in a seaside hamlet on the Great Ocean Rd has avoided prosecution after a worker suffered third-degree burns after accidentally using methylated spirits to clean a grill.

Wye River Grocer Pty Ltd appeared in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday, where the company entered into an enforceable undertaking.

The company trades as Wye River General Store and Cafe at 35 Great Ocean Road, about 17km west of Lorne.

WorkSafe began proceedings in the matter on February 7 last year.

According to WorkSafe, on February 12, 2022, about 3.30pm, a worker was cleaning the kitchen when they went to the back room to grab cleaning supplies.

The employee, who had been provided by an employment agency, thought they had grabbed the Grill Cleaner but in actual fact grabbed a bottle of methylated spirits.

Court documents state the two bottles “looked very similar” and were stored next to each other.

The worker noticed the cleaner was bubbling unusually and evaporating quickly when applied to the grill.

Puzzled, the employee applied more of the cleaner, which caused the grill to ignite and set the chemical bottle and worker’s hand on the fire.

The grill’s canopy also burst into flame, as did the worker’s neck and hair.

The employee ran to the sink to apply water to their burns, while another worker picked up the bottle and saw it was methylated spirits.

The worker was raced to hospital with second and third-degree burns, resulting in lasting scarring, however the worker has since regained the full use of their hand.

Following the incident, the company was charged with four offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and four offences under the Dangerous Goods Act.

On Monday, WorkSafe accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from Wye River and discontinued its prosecution of the company.

The undertaking “does not constitute” an admission of liability or finding of guilt, court documents state, however the company acknowledged the incident and “sincerely regrets” that the injuries to the worker occurred.

The undertaking means the company must comply with specific conditions.

Wye River Grover’s sole shareholder, another company called Dreyfus Pty Ltd, was also listed in court documents.

The company owns and operates more than 20 supermarket and cafe businesses across Victoria and NSW and both companies are part of a larger entity called Reddrop Group.

According to court documents, neither Wye River Grocer, nor Dreyfus, have any prior convictions.

As part of the undertaking, both WorkSafe and Wye River Grocer will each pay for their own legal costs.

The documents state that the cafe estimates it has spent more than $530,000 on remedial measures since charges were laid, and expects the cost of implementation, monitoring and reporting on the undertakings to cost more than $62,400.

Originally published as Wye River cafe avoids prosecution after grill-fire accident