MEDIA RELEASE
16 FEBRUARY 2011

Silver Fern Farms In Court After Contract Worker Is Injured

Silver Fern Farms Limited has been fined $40,500 and ordered to pay reparations of $20,000 after a contractor had her hand pulled into a conveyor at its meat processing plant at Waitotara.

On 19 January 2010 an employee of Ecowize Limited, the company contracted to clean and sanitise the processing areas of the plant, was attempting to clean a conveyor.

The Whanganui District Court heard that the employee’s latex glove became stuck, pulling her arm into the roller. A fellow worker tried to stop the conveyor by pressing the emergency button, but it didn’t work. The conveyor only stopped when an employee of Silver Fern Farms pressed a second emergency button and she was cut free. Her right arm was severely disfigured.

“Silver Fern Farms could have easily prevented this accident if the conveyor was properly guarded,” says the Department of Labour New Plymouth Service Manger, Jo Pugh.

“The company failed to indentify the conveyor rollers as a potential hazard resulting in this worker being seriously injured – it is not acceptable.

“The Department is seeing far too many of these types of accidents where machines are not adequately guarded to protect workers. Machine guarding has been in legislation for over a century and businesses still seem to be forgetting about it.

“Because of the high number of serious injuries and deaths in this area, the Department has a three-year project under way to focus on effective machine guarding standards and ensuring they are implemented.

“The project will also focus on designers, manufacturers and suppliers where inspectors identify that unsafe machinery has been sold or supplied to New Zealand businesses,” Ms Pugh says.

ENDS

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