Oakey Beef Exports, NH Foods, facing $200k fine after found guilty of workplace safety breach

A Queensland beef exporter who supplies the US government, supermarket chains, and McDonald’s could face a fine up to $200,000 after a Darling Downs abattoir worker shot himself on the job.

Oakey Beef worker Mark Bashford.

The sentence of a major regional Queensland beef exporter found guilty of failing its duty of care after a worker was shot with a bolt gun has been delayed.

The Darling Downs abattoir, Oakey Beef Exports, owned by NH Foods, was due to be sentenced on Tuesday, April 15, before the Toowoomba District following a hearing in January 2025 where it was found guilty of failing to comply with its health and safety duty (category two offence).

However, the ruling was adjourned because the parties submitted a joint 500-page document to the court less than 24 hours before the proceeding.

Magistrate Michelle Dooley chided Workplace Health and Safety prosecutor Bianca Mendelson and Brisbane barrister Mitch Rawlings for not following the court’s direction to file all of the relevant material days before the proceeding.

The court heard it was the fourth time Oakey Beef Exports had been brought before the courts for workplace health and safety breaches.

The recent shooting incident occurred in January 2022, around the same time Oakey Beef Exports was fined $140,000 following an incident in July 2018 where a maintenance worker lost his foot when it was entangled in machinery.

A maintenance worker, Mark Bashford, was also involved in the shooting incident.

Mark David Bashford testified during the hearing and said he was taken into surgery and spent nine to 11 days in the care of doctors as the round penetrated his heart, ruptured his pancreas and resulted in parts of his liver to being removed.

The court heard a newly trained Mr Bashford was tasked to clean the bolt-action gun, which is used to kill cattle, when he pressed the trigger and shot himself in the stomach.

Bullets are supposed to be removed from the guns before being sent for cleaning, and the court also heard that although a supervisor was supposed to ensure the kill floor staff returned the cartridge, they were seemingly absent at the time.

The court heard in the lead up to the incident a number of maintenance workers also received loaded guns, however on those occasions the workers checked the cartridge before disassembling the item.

WPHS prosecutor, Ms Mendelson, said the prior failures to remove the bullets showed the employee knew there was a risk and failed to put more steps in place to reduce it.

Ms Mendelson said the breach was serious and submitted a large fine between the range of $100,500 and $200,000, noting the large company had the means to pay.

She also asked for a conviction to be recorded.

Barrister Rawlings, instructed by Sparke Helmore lawyers, said the crown’s estimate was too high and noted the prior conviction could not be taken into account given issues of totality.

He submitted the fine was in the realm of $60,000.

During the hearing a long-serving maintenance team manager told the court kill floor workers would distribute ten caps for the guns at the beginning of the day which were returned to the supervisor at the end of the day; however there were no specific measures in the safety procedures to account for all ten caps at the end of the day nor any direction to check the guns after they had been unloaded.

Mr Rawlings said the shooting should not have occurred as there were adequate procedures in place, however he said on that day, the operation fell victim to “human error” and the “Swiss cheese effect”.

He said one of those errors was that Mr Bashford was trained not to point the gun at himself and to check if it was loaded before proceeding, and the man’s actions that day amounted to that of a negligent worker.

Mr Rawlings argued the worker’s culpability should lower the fine, and noted the company’s history before the court wasn’t as aggravating as it seemed at “first blush”.

“It would be difficult to identify a more inherently risky workplace that civilians would encounter,” he said.

“The court ought to view their compliance history within that realm, considering in the 69 years of operation there is one conviction for a missuses or malpractice using knifes, goes to show the attitude of the defendant towards the safety of its personnel.

“There’s also 1000 workers out there working through almost 1000 beasts each day.”

Following Mr Bashford’s injury, witnesses testified during the trial that procedures were updated so that guns went to the maintenance room disarmed and in parts.

He said Oakey Beef Exports was a diligent employer committed to ensuring the safety of its workers, which had a working safety system in place for more than 70 years.

“I (also) ask your honour to take into account the commitment to local community… particularly the Oakey community,” he said

“Mr (Shane) Rutledge’s affidavit shows a long list of areas to which the community is supported… particularly the commitment to the local rugby league team (the Oakey Bears) as something that reflects good character.”

He asked for no conviction to be recorded, stating the large and complex organisation had a number of prominent stakeholders, including the United States Government, MacDonald’s, and Coles.

“They will have to report to their auditors that fact that a conviction has been recorded.

“These auditors… come in many forums.

“I would imagine… if a company like Oakey Beef Exports lost a client customer like Coles, Woolworths, or McDonald’s, or was no longer competitive in a subsequent contract process that would affect the profitability and the economic wellbeing… of the defendant.”

The small regional town of Oakey, just west of Toowoomba, is about 160km west of Brisbane on the Darling Downs.

Mr Rawlings said it should be taken into account that Mr Bashford’s injuries were not permanent or life-changing.

“The system was working to alleviate the concept of risk by (past workings) finding that cartridge,” he said.

“It was the failure of the worker to comply with their training together with the fact that supervision was not in place (that particular day) during the shutdown shift that led to the circumstances (that led to the shooting).”

Following the incident, the court heard a thorough procedure was put in place to ensure it would not happen again and that Oakey Beef Exports now have a WPHS supervisor on-site at all times conducting walkthroughs.

Oakey Beef pleaded not guilty to the charge and lodged an appeal to fight the finding despite not yet being sentenced for the WPHS breach.

Magistrate Dooley adjourned her judgment to a later date.

Originally published as Oakey Beef Exports, NH Foods, facing $200k fine after found guilty of workplace safety breach