Potato Supplier Fined After Worker’s Leg Amputated in Machine Incident

Fiorelli Packing Co 2 Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined after a worker lost his leg in a serious incident involving a potato-cutting machine at the company’s warehouse.

The company was sentenced in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Friday 19 December after pleading guilty to one charge of failing to provide or maintain a safe system of work. In addition to the fine, the company was ordered to pay $10,913.68 in costs.

The court heard that the warehouse used a machine known as a potato cutter. Sweet potatoes were tipped into a hopper, transferred onto a conveyor belt and then passed through rotating blades to be cut into pieces.

In September 2022, a worker was directed by his supervisor to climb onto the operating machine and use a broomstick to press against the hopper to slow the flow of potatoes and spread them more evenly on the conveyor belt before they reached the blades.

While performing this task, the worker’s foot slipped and became entangled in the rotating blades. Although the supervisor activated the emergency stop button, the worker remained trapped in the machine and could see that part of his foot had been severed and was on the conveyor belt. Emergency services eventually freed him and he was transported to hospital.

The worker’s foot could not be reattached and the injury ultimately resulted in an amputation of his leg below the knee.

A WorkSafe Victoria investigation found that standing on the machine while it was running and using a broomstick to manage product flow had become common practice among workers at the site, rather than an isolated incident. This demonstrated a systemic failure to implement and enforce safe work procedures.

The company acknowledged it had been reasonably practicable to reduce the risk of shearing, cutting and entanglement by:

• installing an interlocked physical guard or perimeter fencing to prevent any part of a worker’s body accessing the danger zone while the machine was operating;
• implementing and enforcing an isolation procedure, such as a lock-out tag-out (LOTO) system, before workers carried out any tasks that could expose them to moving parts; and
• providing emergency stop buttons located close to the danger area so that the plant could be stopped quickly and safely in an emergency.

WorkSafe Acting Chief Health and Safety Officer Barb Hill described the practice of having workers stand near operating blades as a disaster waiting to happen. She noted the significant physical and psychological impact on the injured worker and emphasised that the incident was entirely preventable through basic compliance with health and safety duties.

This case underscores the importance for all employers using plant and machinery to maintain comprehensive WHS management systems, including documented policies, procedures and Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) that clearly set out how high-risk tasks must be carried out. Employers should ensure that guarding, isolation, emergency stops, training and supervision are all addressed, regularly reviewed and verified in practice.

Organisations seeking to strengthen their WHS framework can benefit from structured WHS management systems and documented policies and procedures, such as those available from specialist providers including Bluesafe Online (WHS Management Systems, Policies & Procedures).