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Court Summary - at a glance
Date of offence:
29 April 2013
Plea:
Guilty
Decision:
Convicted
Final decision date:
Fine imposed:
$25,000
Safety lessons learned:
- Install adequate guarding which prevent access to potential trapping points on its can manufacturing machines.
- Have a SOP which did not require workers to override safety features and access potential trapping points.
Defendant name:
Canpac International Limited
Industry:
Manufacturing
Date of offence:
29 April 2013
Facts in brief:
The Defendant company is a manufacturer of cans. The victim was the employee of a contractor to the Defendant.
The victim’s job was to apply pressure with her hand to a stack of metal “blanks” so that they would feed smoothly through rollers. The Defendant’s standard operating procedure for carrying out this task involved the employee removing a plastic guard and deliberately overriding a sensor so she could access the blanks with her hands.
The victim was carrying out this task when her right hand was pulled in between the rollers.
Partial amputation of the tip of her middle finger and a crushing injury to her right hand.
The victim’s job was to apply pressure with her hand to a stack of metal “blanks” so that they would feed smoothly through rollers. The Defendant’s standard operating procedure for carrying out this task involved the employee removing a plastic guard and deliberately overriding a sensor so she could access the blanks with her hands.
The victim was carrying out this task when her right hand was pulled in between the rollers.
Partial amputation of the tip of her middle finger and a crushing injury to her right hand.
Offence section:
S18(1)a) Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992
Date(s) charged:
20 September 2013
Court:
Hamilton - District Court
Plea:
Guilty
Final decision date:
Decision:
Convicted
Fine imposed:
$25,000
Maximum fine available:
$250,000
Reparation:
$10,000.00 (plus Court costs of $132.89)
Related Documents:
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