29 April 2011

A Bay of Plenty manufacturing company was today fined $60,000 following an accident in August last year when an employee crushed one of her fingers while using a punch and forming press machine that wasn’t guarded.

The Tauranga District Court also ordered Pearce Tool & Manufacturing Limited to pay reparation of $11,356.

The employee, a press operator, was working on an overdue order at the company’s plant in Katikati on 10 August 2010.

The Court heard that the employee was asked to work on a machine that she had never used before. Her supervisor gave her a quick lesson in how to use the machine.

But as she reached into the machine to remove a jammed clip, she accidentally pressed down on the machine’s foot pedal causing the machine to operate and crushing her finger in the machine. Part of her right index finger had to be surgically amputated.

“Our investigation found a number of things the company could have and should have done to prevent this accident,” says the Department of Labour’s Bay of Plenty Service Manager, Murray Thompson.

“Firstly, a hazard assessment should have been completed on the machine. The employee should also have been properly trained to work on the machine, instead of being given a quick demonstration.

“Finally, the guarding on the punch and forming press had been removed – there is no excuse for this. All employers responsible for machinery or equipment must make sure it is properly guarded,” Mr Thompson says.

Every year hundreds of New Zealand workers are injured because the machines they work on are not adequately guarded. The Department has a three-year project under way to raise the awareness of proper machine guarding and make sure employers are aware of their duties to protect their staff.

ENDS

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