Poultry farm fined $325,000 after worker killed in conveyor
05 Mar 2026•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
Lemitech Pty Ltd has been fined $325,000 after a worker died when he became entangled in an unguarded conveyor pulley at a poultry farm.
The Geelong County Court sentenced the company after it pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to ensure a workplace was safe and without risks to health.
The court heard the farm had a conveyor system that moved chicken manure from beneath cages inside a shed. A horizontal conveyor belt carried the manure outside.
Workers sometimes removed a guard covering the conveyor’s tail pulley to carry out work, check the horizontal belt’s operation or adjust its tracking.
In March 2023, Liam Harrington, 34, was working on or in connection with the horizontal belt when he became caught in the rotating parts of the unguarded tail pulley and died.
Lemitech admitted it was reasonably practicable to reduce the risk of serious injury or death by installing a fixed interlocked guard with a viewing window on the tail pulley, or interlocked in-running nip guards over its roller. Another option was a maintenance jog function that would slow the conveyor when the existing guard was removed.
WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said duty holders had no excuse for neglecting their obligations and putting workers at risk. “Employers must take every possible step to protect workers from the clear and obvious dangers associated with machinery and its moving parts, and WorkSafe will continue to take strong action against those who fail to do so.”
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