Gin distillery fined $50,000 after explosion injures eight
30 Oct 2024•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
Buller Wines Pty Ltd has been fined $50,000 after an explosion during a gin-making experience injured two workers and six customers at its Three Chain Road distillery.
The company was sentenced without conviction in the Wodonga Magistrates' Court and ordered to pay $4,015 in costs. It had pleaded guilty to failing to provide employees with necessary information, instruction and training, and failing to ensure people other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks.
In April 2022, 11 customers were participating in a personalised gin-making event when a 330-litre copper pot still exploded. The still lifted up and released a fireball, setting the venue's floor alight.
One customer was taken to hospital for treatment of burns to his face, forearm and neck. Two other customers suffered burns to a leg and lower back respectively. Other injuries from the incident included bruising, singed hair, anxiety, headaches, ear pain and ringing ears.
The court heard that insufficient water had been added to cover the still's heating elements. This allowed ingredients added by participants to catch fire, which then ignited ethanol vapours.
The assistant winemaker running the experience had not previously carried out small-batch distillation and was leading the event for the first time. The recipe and run sheets provided to the worker contained different quantities of water and ethanol.
The court found it was necessary and reasonably practicable for Buller Wines to inform staff about the risk of an ethanol explosion when the heating elements were not submerged. Staff also needed instruction and training on preparing the required ethanol and water quantities in marked containers, checking the elements were fully submerged, and having every step checked and confirmed before switching on the still.
WorkSafe Executive Director of Health and Safety Sam Jenkin said giving workers information about risks and appropriate training in the use of tools and machinery was crucial to workplace safety. He said failing to identify hazards, inform workers and instruct them on controlling risks made an incident likely over time.
"In this case, several workers and members of the public were injured in a horrific incident that was entirely preventable if an adequate safe operating procedure was prepared and communicated."
How Blue Safe can help: Our free WHS self-check can help you review your approach to workplace safety and identify areas that may need closer attention, including worker information, instruction and training. Take the free WHS self-check