Waste recycling business fined $140,000 after shredder fatality
04 Apr 2024•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe QLD
A waste transfer and recycling business has been fined $140,000 after a worker was fatally crushed while clearing a shredder blockage. The business pleaded guilty to charges under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 in the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
The worker died on 22 January 2021 while working a nightshift at the waste business. They had started work as a machine operator about six months earlier.
On the night of the incident, two workers were assigned to clear a large pile of waste from the processing shed floor. No supervisor was present.
The shredder was in poor mechanical condition, with most of its teeth out of operation and awaiting replacement. This reduced its ability to process waste, allowing material to become stuck and cause blockages.
To try to clear blockages, workers would go beneath an overhead three-tonne magnetic conveyor and reach into the shredder through its discharge chute to remove waste.
At about 1.30am, the worker clearing a blockage was crushed when the conveyor’s remote toggle was activated against the shredder’s body.
A Workplace Health and Safety investigation found the business had not carried out a risk assessment of the shredder. There was no training or documented procedure specifically for clearing blockages. An undocumented lockout and tagout approach was the only safety measure, with no secondary measures in place.
The operator manual also incorrectly stated that the magnetic conveyor could not operate while the shredder was in manual mode. The error was discovered only after the worker’s death.
How Blue Safe can help: Our free WHS self-check can help you review your business’s approach to workplace risks and identify areas that need closer attention. Take the free WHS self-check