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Court Summary - at a glance

Date of offence:
20 January 2017
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Final decision date:
 
Fine imposed:
$100,000 (reduced due the financial capacity of the defendant)

Safety lessons learned:
  1. Ensure the slitter machine was adequately guarded;
  2. Ensure a systematic risk assessment of the slitter machine was undertaken by a competent person;
  3. Develop and implement a Safe Operating Procedure for the slitter machine covering routine and non-routine operations and including a system to ensure guards were present and functional;
  4. Ensure its workers were adequately trained in the use of the slitter machine. 

Defendant name:
Allflex Packaging Limited
 
Industry:
Manufacturing
 
Date of offence:
20 January 2017
 
Facts in brief:
The victim was operating a slitter and re-winder machine, which unwinds large rolls of film, slits it and rewinds it into smaller rolls. He noticed film was creasing as it passed over two counter-rotating rollers, which was a common occurrence, and while the machine was still operating, the victim tried to flatten out the film. As he did so, his right hand was pulled into the unguarded nip point between the two counter-rotating rollers, crushing his hand. He suffered a degloving avulsion, fractured his little finger, large laceration extending across the palm of his hand and lacerations to the base of his fingers.

There was no guard on the machine, no risk assessment undertaken by a competent person, no safe operating procedure for the machine and inadequate training of its machine operators.
 
Offence section:
Sections 48(1) and (2)(c) and 36(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
 
Date(s) charged:

Court:
Manukau - District Court
 
Plea:
Guilty
 
Final decision date:
 
Decision:
Convicted
 
Fine imposed:
$100,000 (reduced due the financial capacity of the defendant)
 
Maximum fine available:
$1,500,000
 
Reparation:
$20,000 for emotional harm and $157.60 for consequential loss