Hay Australia Victoria sentenced at County Court over workplace death of Bendigo father Harley Muir

The company in charge of a Bridgewater plant where a worker was crushed in a hay-baling machine has been fined 20 times its bank balance over the death.

Harley Muir died in a workplace incident at the Hay Australia Bridgewater plant on February 1, 2021. Picture: Facebook

A regional Victorian hay manufacturer has been slugged with a $400,000 fine after a worker died on the job near Bendigo.

Harley Muir, 29, suffered fatal injuries when he became entangled in a hay-baling machine on February 1, 2021 at Hay Australia Victoria’s factory in Bridgewater.

Mr Muir was crushed as he stepped on a guardrail and placed his body between a stationary and moving part of the machine, which had recurring misalignment issues.

The father was released, fell to the floor unresponsive, and did not regain consciousness.

At the time of his death, his employer was called Hay Australia Victoria but was charged with negligence under the name 623452924HAV Pty Ltd.

The company has since been bought by Hay Australia, which is unrelated to the case, and has not traded since 2022.

The business was found guilty at a trial during which defence lawyers alleged Mr Muir deliberately stepped into the wrong part of the machine with the intention of taking his own life.

Bendigo father Harley Muir. Picture: Facebook

Prosecutors said the company should have installed a light curtain — which would cut the power to the machine if an object passed through it — in the area where Mr Muir was killed.

Mr Muir’s family spoke about their loss at a court hearing on March 18, where his son said if he wanted to hug his dad now, he had to “hug a gravestone”.

At the County Court on Friday, Judge Claire Quin said she was satisfied Mr Muir’s actions were not a deliberate attempt at suicide, but that he was in fact “acting in the course of his work”.

She said his death had an “absolutely devastating impact on his friend and family” and that the business’s offending was of “moderate” seriousness since it did not completely ignore risks and made operation changes immediately following Mr Muir’s death.

The court heard Hay Australia Victoria had $20,000 remaining, with outstanding liabilities and debts, meaning — according to defence lawyers at earlier hearings — it did not have the ability to pay a fine.

Nevertheless, Judge Quin convicted and fined the company $400,000.

Originally published as Hay Australia Victoria sentenced at County Court over workplace death of Bendigo father Harley Muir