Poultry Farm Fined $325k After Fatal Conveyor Incident

Lemitech Pty Ltd has been convicted and fined $325,000 in the Geelong County Court after pleading guilty to failing to provide a workplace that was safe and without risks to health, following the death of a worker at a poultry farm.

The court heard that Lemitech had installed a conveyor system to move chicken manure from beneath cages inside a shed to the outside of the facility. This system included a horizontal conveyor belt that transported the manure out of the shed.

Workers at the farm would at times carry out tasks on, or monitor, the horizontal belt and adjust its tracking where needed. To do this, they would remove a guard covering the tail pulley of the conveyor system, exposing moving parts.

In March 2023, 34-year-old worker Liam Harrington was undertaking work on or around the horizontal belt when he became entangled in the rotating components of the unguarded tail pulley. He sustained fatal injuries at the scene.

Lemitech acknowledged that it was reasonably practicable to reduce the risk of serious injury or death by implementing additional engineering controls. These included installing a fixed interlocked guard with a viewing window on the tail pulley, fitting interlocked in-running nip guards over the tail pulley roller, or introducing a maintenance jog function to slow the conveyor when the existing guard was removed.

WorkSafe Victoria’s Chief Health and Safety Officer, Sam Jenkin, said there is no justification for neglecting health and safety obligations, particularly where known machinery hazards exist.

“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,” Mr Jenkin said.

“Sadly, this devastating incident has cost the life of a young man who deserved, and should rightly have expected, that his health and safety would be a priority in the workplace.”

This case underlines the importance of having a comprehensive WHS management system, supported by clear policies, procedures and Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) for machinery operation, maintenance and isolation. Proper risk assessment, guarding, lockout/tagout processes and supervision are essential to prevent contact with moving parts.

Businesses working with conveyors, augers, rotating equipment and other high-risk plant should ensure that guarding is compliant, interlocked where practicable, and never removed while machinery is operating. Documented WHS procedures and SWMS for inspection, cleaning and maintenance tasks can significantly reduce the likelihood of similar incidents. Resources to support the development of these documents are available from specialist providers such as pre-written SWMS libraries and tailored WHS management systems.